Let it Burn
by Cuddly Cat
Summary: Tooru addresses his faults more fully and adapts accordingly, because of this a vastly different Tooru arrives at Koryo Academy. A Tooru that is not held back by his past but rather empowered by it. Tooru shall serve his purpose as a shield for those he cherishes. The tale of the greatest protector begins. Powerful Tooru, Smart Tooru, TooruxHarem
1. Welcome to the rest of your life

Smart Tooru / not-dense Tooru / powerful – eventually godlike Tooru

Exception Tooru / Powerful Harem / Evolving Blaze

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**Harem: **_Julie Sigtuna, Tomoe Tachibana, Miyabi Hotaka, Lilith Bristol, Rito Tsukumi, Sakuya Tsukumo, Imari Nagakura, possible OC's_

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**Note:** _There are numerous variations of the protagonist's name that are used in the story, I personally will usually use Tooru as his name. Some people prefer Thor or Tōr however and I understand that, if you would like to see a certain pronunciation be used please say so in your reviews._

_There shall be OC's in this simply because of the fact that I want to keep a certain cast of characters involved in the story and giving them a partner is necessary (Imari), they will mostly be secondary characters however. This story is a harem, as is the actual series. I might add an OC harem member later on, but don't hold your breath. The protagonist is not romantically dense and will get his girls in this._

**Warning:** _This chapter and subsequent story is to be rated accordingly for language, suggestive themes, violence, and potential gore. If at some point I do decide to incorporate lemons they shall likely be in their own separate story instead in order to not hinder the viewing pleasure of others, or I will give fair warning to their inclusion in a chapter, the romance and subsequent relationships though will still remain in the story…_

**Official Disclaimer:** _I do not own Absolute Duo or any referenced or related works in that may appear in this story. If there ever is an OC inclusion in this or any of my stories, the resemblance of a name and/or physical appearance to anyone living or deceased is completely coincidental. The right of any pictures or art I will ever use go to their respective owners, if said artist would like the picture removed from my profile or story, for that is where it would most likely be, please say so instead of jumping to conclusions of infringement._

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**Note: This chapter has been edited for quality assurance purposes. 11/20/2015 – Cuddly Cat**

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**Chapter I**

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**Welcome to the rest of your life**

**~x~**

Tooru Kokonoe was currently sitting on a bench in the middle of the flower gardens of the school he was supposed to attend, Koryo Academy High School.

Tooru was a young man with short, dark, chocolate brown hair and golden sharp eyes. He was quite tall for his age and usually had a kind demeanor and a friendly yet care-free personality about him that made him oddly approachable. He was currently wearing the standard Koryo Academy boy's uniform consisting of a white dress shirt with a black jacket over it and blue pants. A navy blue tie finishing the ensemble exquisitely and offering an air elegance about him.

He was presently looking at a strangely shaped metal shield that was attached to his left arm. It being in a flame design and having golden veins running across the upper portion of it, it mimicking the blaze of flames as it pulsed with energy.

It was his Blaze, a genetically engineered ability that allowed him to materialize an item born from his soul, it was both the key to his future…

…and his greatest failure.

His Blaze was categorized as an irregularity, an anomaly when it came to Blaze's as all Blaze had always been weapons, his being the sole exception. A Blaze with no apparent combat value whatsoever, it's like the world could not get enough of screwing him over.

'But I won't give up, I have adapted, and found a way around my shortcomings. I won't lose.' He thought determinedly as he got up from the bench and went to go to the school's entrance ceremony that was starting soon.

As he was walking to the school through the sakura trees that made up the entrance walkway he came upon quite the wondrous sight. A cute girl looking curiously at the sakura blossoms, the way she was observing them being as if she had never before seen such a thing, which considering her foreign appearance might hold more truth than not.

She was a beautiful young girl that had silver white hair that reached all the way down to her hips with two black ribbon bells woven into her hair. She had a petite lithe figure, her pale skin being as white as snow and as smooth as porcelain. Her gorgeous hypnotizing ruby red eyes holding an innocent gleam to them that made him almost want to berate himself at the thoughts running rampant through his mind at the moment. The way she stood and walked being of such elegance that it simply employed dignity and nobility in her every movement. If her walking was art then so was her body, like a doll crafted from the finest porcelain one could not help but wonder at how truly fragile she was. The whole image with her surrounded by sakura blossoms was enough to momentarily strike him speechless.

'Cute…' was the predominant thought in his mind as he simply gazed at her for a few seconds. She briefly glancing towards him for but a moment before simply walking away.

After a few seconds he finally managing to slightly reclaim his composure.

'Wow and that was only the first girl I saw here and she was that cute, I guess this place can't be that bad after all – I hope we have the same class together.' he thought hopefully

"So _that's _what people mean by a cute young thing!" he heard someone say from behind him, this startling him slightly as he realized that he was not the only one that had been staring in surprise at the girl from earlier.

As he turned around he came to find her statement ironic as he came face to face with a cute young girl with golden brown hair and vibrant green eyes. She having her hair tied into a long ponytail with a green ribbon that matched her eyes perfectly. She had fair skin and a fairly curvaceous frame. Her features were soft and delicate, yet her eyes were hopeful and determined, showing vast reserves of inner strength that lied within her. She like all other girls was wearing the standard female academy school uniform.

"You're new here too right? Why don't we walk together?" she asked in quick succession

Seeing no reason to deny her request, as what guy in their right mind would, he decided to comply.

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"So this is Koryo Academy High School" Tooru remarked as they walked through the front gates of the inner portion of the school, he looking around curiously at everything along with the girl.

"An all-expenses-paid academy with free room and board, established by the Dorn Agency – it's like a dream come true!" Imari said excitedly

"I mean do you know what that means exactly, an all-expenses-paid with free lodging? That is amazing! Just think about it, free food, free rent, a free high school level education! You can't go wrong with free!" the girl said quite exuberantly, stars in her eyes as she looked at everything around her in wonder.

He could only smile at that as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he observed her, he not being sure how to react to such an energetic person.

"I guess you can't" he responded quite lamely getting the girl's attention once more

"Actually I'm the only one here from my middle school, so I was a little nervous. I'm happy to have met you though, I usually struggle with meeting new people, but you're great company!" she said happily as she graced him with a smile

She suddenly flinched after she stopped talking "Sorry if I talk too much, I tend to talk a lot and I know that most people think of it as quite annoying." she apologized near the end as she caught herself. She offering a short bow to him by ways of apology, momentarily surprising him at that.

"Oh no, not at all, please speak your mind. In fact it's quite helpful, I have been quite nervous about all this myself." He admitted making her look at him curiously at that

"You see I'm the only one from my middle school here as well, and I have been quite on edge ever since I came here. Frankly, talking with you has let me relax a bit, it's nice to find that some of the people here are just everyday people like you and me. The way they worded it to me was like this was some huge military academy" he said seriously, making her chuckle at that

"Well we are supposed to be studying combat techniques here, right?" she asked as they walked by a large coliseum like arena, the sounds of battle and weapons clashing sounding off inside.

"Uh-huh" he said simply as they both looked towards the grand looking arena

"Oh, I haven't even introduced myself!" she said suddenly, breaking him out of his stupor

"I'm Imari Nagakura. I hope to have a fun three years with you here as your potential future classmate!" she said in a bubbly tone of voice as she extended her hand to him for a handshake, making him smile at that.

"Tooru Kokonoe. It's a pleasure to meet you Nagakura and I hope we can be friends" he said to her as he shook her hand making her smile at the last bit.

"If we're going to be friends then please call me Imari" she said happy at the prospect of a new friend

"Then please call me Tooru" he replied with a good natured smile, she smiling back at him at how accepting he was of her already.

An announcement suddenly sounded off stating that the opening ceremony would begin soon in the study hall from the intercom, breaking them out of their little moment as they realized they were still holding onto each others hands. They looking away embarrassedly at that as they broke apart.

"Ano, I guess we should get going" she said as she made to leave with him in tow

"Actually, I think I am going to wait a bit before heading there, I want to see what all this is about" he said as he gestured towards the arena

"You sure?" she asked, she sounding a bit… disappointed at that

"Yeah, we still have half an hour until the ceremony so it should be fine" he said as he looked at his wristwatch

"You go on ahead I will catch up to you later, alright" he said with a kind smile at her, making her nod slowly at that before he made to turn around – only for her to latch out and grab his wrist halting him in his tracks.

"A-arigato" she said softly, he turning around only to find her with her head down as she addressed him, her bangs hiding her eyes from view.

"For what?"

"For being there, I really needed that, ever since I came here I have been really down as most people would simply ignore me or find me annoying. I'm glad… I'm glad to call you my first friend Tooru." she said as she looked up at him, a sincere smile on her face, surprising him for a second before his eyes softened and a soft smile of his own found its way onto his lips.

"The pleasure is all mine Imari," he said softly to her "The pleasure is all mine…"

After that they parted as he headed for the coliseum and she for the ceremony, each bearing a great deal of respect for one another, their thoughts on the other as they each headed to their destinations.

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**Grand Overture**

**~x~**

"Well that was a total waste of time" Tooru said angrily as he walked towards the entrance ceremony, a bit angry at the total disappointment that the arena had truly been.

'I mean seriously, if I wanted to simply see people repeatedly try to hit each other I would just watch it on TV or something. That was not even the worst part either, who the hell swings a sword like a baseball bat!?' he thought angrily

'I mean you would think half these people did not even know what sword or individual weapon styles were, or even what a simple stance was.'

'Most of them don't even understand the concept of defending, their idea of defense is simply meeting an attack head on with their own, bunch of idiots' he thought angrily as he kicked a rock

'But I guess it was cool to see all the different types of Blaze out there, they really do vary a lot from person to person' he pondered as he thought back on all the different Blazes he had seen and the different unique people that wielded them... even if they sucked at doing so.

He truly had to admit Blaze's were really interesting things, the idea itself sounded almost silly and cliché when he first heard of it. A weapon made from someone's soul, it just sounded like something almost idealistic in its concept. But, there was just something about holding one of them in your hands, it was as if you were making a physical construct of all your hopes and dreams. The feeling needless to say was beyond anything he had ever experienced before, it felt as if nothing was impossible to achieve while wielding it, as if everything was within reach.

"Ah" he voiced out in slight surprise as he noticed he had arrived at his destination. A sign with the words "_Koryo Academy Opening Ceremony"_ propped by the entrance.

'Five minutes to spare huh?' he thought as he gazed at his wristwatch, that was a little close for his taste, but at least he had gotten a bit of insight on what to expect at this school. If what he had seen at the arena was any indication combat was a pretty big part of life here. So it would not be that out of place to hold an exhibition match or something during the ceremony to give the students a taste of what was to come.

He walked into the study hall only to momentarily stop surprised at the extravagant décor inside the building.

'And this is just a study hall!' he thought in disbelief as he observed the large room.

The room had four large glass chandeliers that fit well with the style of the room. The main colors were white and cream for the room, the roof was curved and had a cut out in the middle that had glass panels in place to allow more natural lighting to filter through. The room had red drapes for the windows and stage, and the walkways were painted red as well. There were two sections that he assumed were normally occupied by tables that were currently filled with a number of elegant white chairs that were occupied by the new students that were meant to attend this school year. There appeared to also be columns supporting an unused upper level that had a number of empty red seats. Finally there was a line of teachers standing in front of stage.

'Wow' he thought in shock as he looked around in wonder 'Usually most schools hold their opening ceremonies in gymnasiums or if the school has one an auditorium, but this school really goes all out. Well it is an academy after all.' He thought passively as he looked around the crowd spotting both the cute silver haired girl from earlier as well as his new friend Imari.

Imari seemed to notice him too as she waved towards him, making him wonder if she was actually waiting for him to show up this entire time.

He then came to notice that the seats next to her were taken making him frown a bit at that as the sole contact he had in this entire school was cut off. He looked back towards the cute silver haired girl from earlier to see the same case applied making his frown deepen further, those were the only people he really liked in this school so far.

He sighed as he took a seat near two guys near the back of the room, one had black hair with a bowl cut hair-style and wore glasses, while the other was a muscular teen that had spiky brown hair. He offered them an awkward smile and sat down in the vacant chair in between the two, the black haired teen ignoring him, while the other teen gave him an acknowledging nod.

They then both looked back at the stage as the lights slightly dimmed, this being quite ineffective due to the natural lighting but getting the point across as almost everyone quieted down and looked towards the stage.

They then all saw something that left several students in a state of bafflement, as what could only be described as a black haired gothic lolita with amethyst colored eyes walked across the stage and to the microphone.

Said girl wore an elegant gothic style dress, it being black with white frills, along with an accompanying head dress with a pink rose on either side. Her black hair was set into twin pigtails that reached all the way to her hips, with them curling near the bottom slightly. Her rather dainty and delicate appearance along with her pale-white skin making her almost look like a doll. All in all she was really cute.

"Welcome new students to Koryo Academy. I am the Academy president, Sakuya Tsukumo" the dark haired lolita said to the assembled group, she surprising most of the audience that had not met her at the news.

'Wow, we must have the cutest academy president ever. An academy president is basically like a principal right? She is hands down the cutest principal I have ever seen. I mean just look at her, she is just so tiny. She obviously must be pretty mature and is likely older than me though if she is the academy president. Fake loli then, isn't this false advertising? I wonder how old she really is?' he thought intently as he gazed at her with undying scrutiny

"We shall now perform our traditional Screening Rite" Sakuya said, confusing most of the audience at that.

"First, please take note of the person sitting beside you; he or she shall be your partner." She explained, hushed whispers breaking out at the announcement. At this Tooru looked to both his left and right confusedly, unsure of who exactly would be his partner as he did not know which one she was referring to. The spiky brown haired guy to his left was presently smiling at him and talking to the other guy next to him, while the black haired guy with glasses simply continued to ignore him.

"And now…you are to battle your partner. The person beside you is now your enemy." She announced surprising most of the audience at such a thing.

The moment the last word left her mouth Tooru's arm instantly lashed out as he elbowed the black haired boy with glasses next to him in the gut, all the while having never looked away from the stage or Sakuya. The blow knocking the wind out of the teen as he suddenly blasted backwards colliding with two other guys that were positioned behind him, knocking all three unconscious – this leaving everyone in the room in a state of shock. The guy with spiky brown hair sitting next to him looking at him nervously, knowing full well that could have been him.

Meanwhile his expression had not changed in the slightest, he drawing back his arm back onto his lap as he folded his hands together and continued looking forward towards the stage.

Even Sakuya looked a bit surprised at that, not having expected such a reaction from anyone in the assembled group like that, and it seemed to be the irregular as well to have done so.

'Interesting' she thought as a small smile formed on her face as she regained her composure.

"Oh-ho, a little eager aren't we, I never stated for the fight to begin _boy_. I haven't even explained the rules or instructions yet," she said dangerously as she narrowed his eyes at him, he looking nonplussed at that.

"Pardon me, it's just as per your statement my enemy was sitting right beside me, distracted. I simply moved in order to remove the threat as quickly as possible, I would not desire someone that would wish to impart harm upon me to be within arm's distance. It's not safe for their health as you can see" he said as he gestured to the small pile of teens behind him

Her smile actually seemed to widen a bit at that, she liked this kid, she liked him a lot.

"Be that as it may, you may wish to know the rules of engagement prior to doing so, don't you think?" she asked calmly with a raised brow, getting an understanding look from the boy at that.

"Of course, pardon my haste my lady, you are indeed correct, please continue." he said as he bowed his head towards her respectfully, this prompting her to nod in his direction as she continued – several people still looking at him warily.

"Now as I was saying before, the person beside you is now your enemy…" she reiterated once more, this immediately making Tooru's head snap to the spiky brown haired guy next to him, a bloodthirsty grin on face. The teen immediately looking away with anime tears coming down his cheeks as he knew it was all over.

"Only the winners will be permitted entrance, losers will have their Lukifer's removed and will leave the premises." she explained making many people voice their outrage at that.

"This is the first I've heard of this!" shouted someone from the crowd

"What type of rule is that? This is news to me!" said another guy in the crowd

"But we already got our acceptance letters and passed the initial exam isn't that enough?" voiced someone else

"A battle, here? But that's impossible, this is a school isn't it?" stated a girl nervously, their previous shock at the earlier event being replaced by their current outrage.

"If your individual battles are not completed within ten minutes, both students will be given failing marks and asked to leave." Sakuya continued above the din of the crowd.

"Wait a minute!" interrupted a black hair teen that was sitting next to Imari "Isn't it unfair to simply kick us out if we lose, we're already enrolled here, do you know how difficult it will be to find another high school available this late in!? I denied three acceptance letters just to come here!" he voiced angrily

"Consider this Koryo-Academy's entrance examination." She said calmly silencing him "It is a struggle for survival based on one simple concept: Defeat others to stay alive. Kill or be killed" she said darkly

"What's wrong with a written exam?" the black haired teen asked nervously

She lifted her head and graced the entire room with a sinister smile as she looked down upon all of them imperiously, "You will all be plunging headfirst into battle before long. You must have known that when you first expressed interest in attending Koryo Academy." She stated to them calmly, her tone unwavering.

Suddenly the brown haired young man next to Tooru stood up "Can we switch partners? Heck do I even have to fight him? I mean he already took out three guys with a single blow, isn't that enough for him to pass already, and technically he did take out a guy that was next to him." Said the teen, hopeful of avoiding a conflict with the monster that was currently sitting beside him, the action slightly angering Tooru.

"No you cannot. Under technicality I cannot simply pass him from that as the rules hadn't been stated yet, and since he has to fight someone you are the only one that presently fit's the criteria for the rules established." She said disheartening him as he clenched his fists at that, there was no way he could win, that guy was a monster, and the worst part was he did all that without even needing to draw his Blaze.

"Understand this: The person beside you is now your first enemy," she repeated making Tooru look at her at that as a grin spread across his face.

First enemy, insinuated that it would not be his last. Ten minute time limit, defeat others to stay alive, kill or be killed. That means that essentially he could take out as many people as he could during that ten minute time interval, after he took care of his "enemy" of course. Oh this was going to be fun.

"Fine," the guy said "I'm doing this under protest however, as I doubt that this is a fair assessment of my abilities if I face off against him" he said as he pointed at Tooru who only smiled back.

Several of the other students looked sympathetically at him at that, having just witnessed the brutal display from Tooru earlier.

"Your statement shall be taken into consideration" she said with a small nod, getting one in turn from the teen.

"Now fight, heaven-chosen children, you the Elcidae! You have been given the power you require to do so. So use the power of you souls, your Blaze, to seize a future for yourselves!" Sakuya declared as she officially commenced the battle

In an instant Tooru's arm lashed out once more as he slammed his fist down next to him just as the brown haired teen dodged away, the impact instantly demolishing the chair and destroying the ground underneath it. He doing all this without moving from his seated position or turning his head from the stage. He then turned his head towards the brown haired teen and looked at him emotionlessly as he stood up to prepare to confront him, his hands now in his pockets. The brown haired teen forming a two handed mace with amber veins running through it, as he observed Tooru warily.

Just as quickly as Tooru the silver haired girl he had noticed earlier quickly activated her Blaze the moment that Sakuya finished her speech. She forming two dual blades from flames, they having neon pink veins with energy pulsing through them. The guy next to her, a black haired teen with black eyes, quickly materializing his own Blaze which took the form of a one handed battle axe which he quickly used to attack the silver haired girl.

"Why you-!" he shouted as he made to cut her in half, she jumping over his strike with great ease as she made distance between them before rushing towards him and striking him with a dual overhead blow, he barely managing to block it in time. He then proceeded to try to parry as many attacks as possible while trying to attack himself, sadly the girl was too quick to dodge and his attacks usually ended up over-stretching leaving him temporally exposed. For every attack he performed she would perform up to three or four in that same amount of time.

Most of the students were simply looking on in shock at the two fighting groups, temporarily not knowing how to get involved in the conflict themselves. The surprise and suddenness of the event being too much for them as they temporarily did not know how to react to it at all.

A fact that Tooru was quick to capitalize on as he gained an evil grin on his face and suddenly grabbed one of the guy's that was looking at the silver haired girl's fight by his skull. This making the eyes of all those that were observing him widen as he suddenly lifted the guy up off the ground with one hand, all the while never breaking eye-contact with his "enemy". The teen in his grip vainly struggling to break free as he trashed about, he attempting to pry Tooru's fingers away.

"Catch" he said maliciously as he chucked the struggling teen towards his foe, this eliciting a girlish scream from the teen, as his adversary simply stood there in shock at his foe's actions. He quickly released his Blaze as he attempted to catch the teen only to discover that Tooru had in fact been trailing after the impromptu airborne projectile, hidden from his line of sight.

Tooru then seemed to concentrate his energy into his right fist making it shimmer a slightly golden color before he jumped and punched the teen squarely in the back sending him blasting forwards into the brown haired teen, a trail of dust and debris being uplifted from the attack and resounding point of impact.

'That was deliciously brutal, no mercy, analytical to a fault, willing to do almost anything to get the desired results. I really like him a lot, he's perfect. A perfect combat machine, and he is only a lvl. 1 at this point.' Sakuya thought with a pleasant shiver going down her spine at that

This boy, she could feel it, he was the one. He was one of the pair that shall achieve absolute duo.

"Get up, I barely packed any power into that, I know you are still conscious" he said making a lot of people look at the wreckage again.

"I must say that was quite the surprise, it almost got me, but I disagree with your methods." the brown haired muscular teen said as he glared at Tooru angrily, he holding the unconscious teen with one arm as he placed him on the ground and held his mace with his other.

"What is your name?" the brown haired teen asked with narrowed eyes

"You know it's rude to ask someone's name before stating your own. Anyways names Tooru, and don't act so glum, I barely packed enough strength into that punch to knock him unconscious, and just enough to cause considerable damage if the momentum of his trajectory continued. I did say catch after all didn't I?" he asked with a tilt of his head and a dark smile.

"Humph, I guess you do have a point, names Tsuko" he stated as he suddenly dashed forward and made to smash Tooru with his mace, Tooru simply sidestepping it. The surrounding impact of the mace was enough however to overturn the ground in the area where he was, this making Tooru's eyes widen as Tsuko smirked and swung to the side. Tooru barely dodging the blow as he made space in-between him and his adversary.

At this point most of the people in the room where immersed in their own respective battles as they fought their partners.

"Well are you going to draw your Blaze or not?" Tsuko asked heatedly after waiting a few seconds for him to do so, only to get no response from Tooru making him angry.

"Fine, I will force you to draw it then! I will show you not to underestimate me!" he said angrily as he glared at Tooru and dashed forwards as he attempted to impact his mace directly on the boy's shoulder, only for Tooru to suddenly move and for his head be in the trajectory of the mace, this making Tsuko's eyes widen.

'Shit, I can't change the direction mid-swing' some of the people observing the battle actually gasped as they saw what could only be observed as the boy's assured death about to happen before them. The Tooru actually having his eyes closed as the weapon fell upon him.

Tooru simply inhaled and then exhaled and the mace suddenly crashed into the ground next to him. It was so quick most of the people observing barely saw it happen.

Tooru's hands had extended outwards and he had seemingly simply pushed the mace in mid-swing off course with his open palm in but a fraction of a second.

"What the hell?" Tsuko said in utter shock at the impact point of his mace, before looking back at Tooru in fear.

"That isn't possible, how could you re-direct that point blank strike with your bare hands? For all purposes your fingers should all be broken at this point." Tsuko said in clear disbelief

"You didn't see it did you?" Tooru stated calmly, confusing the teen "My Blaze," he said as suddenly flames coalesced along his right arm and formed his Blaze, a metallic shield in a flame design. He moving just in time to block a one-handed battle axe from impaling Tsuko in the back.

This being a by-product of the silver haired girl from earlier disarming her foe.

"A shield? B-but I thought Blaze's only came in the form of weapons?" the teen asked in disbelief

"I guess I'm an irregular" Tooru answered simply

"But even so, how did you manage to block my overhead strike without using it!?" Tsuko demanded, completely confounded as to how Tooru did so.

Tooru smirked at that "Who said I didn't?" he said confusing the teen further

"You were so focused on the fact that I redirected it with my hand that you did not pay attention to the means I used to do so. You see while I did redirect it with my hands, I could only alter its course of descent slightly, at most allowing it to impact my shoulder which would have likely still incapacitated me." Tooru said calmly

"Then how-!?" Tsuko exclaimed

"Didn't I say it earlier? My Blaze, that's what allowed me to deflect it, after altering your Blaze's course of descent it was now headed towards my left shoulder. It was for this reason I stepped into the path of the blow initially even though it was more risky, this halved the distance needed for me to redirect the blow. You see even if I did manage to dodge that attack, the pesky area damage your weapon is capable of at full strength would have still likely incapacitated me and left me vulnerable to a follow-up attack." Tooru stated, realization dawning across Tsuko's face at that.

"I see you are starting to get it. Yes, I redirected it towards my left shoulder on purpose, and then used my Blaze to not block the blow, but to once more redirect it by sliding the attack over it utilizing the new course trajectory that I created earlier by redirecting it to facilitate this." Tooru said, he shocking even Sakuya at that as she was observing most of the battles from the stage, she finding Tooru's in particular to be incredibly interesting.

"But that's-" Tsuko started before being cut off

"Impossible" Tooru finished for the teen, silencing him "Nothing is, we're fighting with artificially engineered weapons forged from our souls. I threw away such preconceptions as impossible a long time ago." Tooru said as he glared at the teen

"I mean do you even still think you are human at this point? Because I must say if you do, you are sadly mistaken!" Tooru shouted as he attempted to perform a backswing with his shield arm as he spun around directly to Tsuko's skull, said teen barely managing to dodge out of the way.

"Humph, I guess you're right" Tsuko said as he looked around towards all the people still currently engaged in battle, this certainly was not the sight to expect in your average high school.

"I appreciate the save back there, but it's about time we finish this" Tsuko said seriously

Tooru not deigning the statement worthy of a response simply dashed forwards, this making Tsuko's eyes widen at that as he quickly swung his mace downwards. Tooru simply maneuvering under the blow as he span around and backhanded the mace to the side with his Blaze arm while charging a large amount of energy into his right fist.

'Damn it' Tsuko thought in silent resignation, just as all the energy finished coalescing into Tooru's first. Tsuko barely managing to block before he was blasted backwards by the sheer force of the attack. The large teen smashing into one of the columns in the building and causing the entire establishment to shake from the impact, this immediately knocking him unconscious in the process.

A silver haired girl all the while watching all this curiously from afar, her battle already over long ago.

"Well that was fun" he said good naturedly before he looked at his wristwatch once more, he still had four minutes left. At that he got a bloodthirsty look on his face as he gazed around the room, most people were still in the middle of their respective battles, but a few were finished and were currently standing beside the teachers as they observed the conflict.

"Let the games begin" he said with a sinister smile. Without warning his head went limp as his eyes were shrouded by his bangs and his smile slipped off his face, he then shifted his feet in place before he disappeared stunning most of the people that were currently observing him.

* * *

On the other side of the room one Miyabi Hotaka was currently fighting a losing battle against a large male student wielding a two-handed great sword, she barely being able to utilize her large cumbersome lance as a shield to block the much more agile enemy. She had tears currently running down her cheeks as she knew that she was going to lose, she was going to fail before even being allowed to attend the academy. It just wasn't fair!

"It's over!" shouted her foe as he made to perform an overhead blow that would surely break her hold on her lance.

Suddenly a person appeared behind the large teen in mid-air making her eyes widen in surprise as without preamble the person grabbed the teen by the back of the head and smashed the teen head first against the ground with such force it immediately knocked him unconscious. The unknown assailant digging his knee into the teen's back as he descended upon him.

It was such a shock to her that her Blaze dispersed as she fell backwards onto her rear in surprise at that, she shivering in fear of the teen in front of her. The teen then stood up once more and cast a glance in her direction that left her speechless as she gazed into his eyes.

His golden eyes were dilated as they stared at her unblinkingly, they looking nearly dead as they gazed at her – an emotionless expression on his face. Truthfully the only expression that could define the look that currently resided within his eyes at this point was…

He suddenly offered a psychotic smile to her as he gazed at her, his eyes unnaturally wide as he did so, the look a mockery of a comforting gesture.

…madness.

After a few seconds of looking at her and regarding her as not a threat since her Blaze was deactivated he quickly turned his head towards the battlefield and in a quick movement of his feet was gone as he simply disappeared once again, leaving a shell-shocked girl in his wake.

He then reappeared in the middle of the battlefield and quickly blocked a slash from his left with his Blaze from a girl with shoulder length spiky black hair, she having tried to get him by surprise.

"Hi, hi!" she said quite merrily

"I must say I did not much appreciate you taking out my partner from earlier like that in order to use him as a missile. In fact I have to say that I'm quite angry" the dark haired girl said in a dangerous tone, smile still in place.

He simply tilted his head at that, as if he did not understand, the dead look in his eye unnerving her slightly.

"Why you, don't ignore me!" she shouted as she made to slash at him once more

"Ahh!" she squeaked out in surprise as he kicked her legs from under her in one swift motion, suspending her in mid-air for a fraction of a second as her eyes widened.

He suddenly lowering his right arm in a chopping motion with energy coalescing around it making the girl's eyes widen once more as she raised her katana to block the blow. Tooru not stopping at all in his movement as his forearm dug into the blade, the action cutting into his flesh before suddenly the explosive force of his attack was released and it blasted the girl backwards into the ground. She spewing blood from her mouth from the impact as the ground cratered below her from the sheer pressure of the blow.

The last thing the girl pondered on before she fell unconscious being that if that blow from him had come in actual contact with her she would be dead. She likely having been cut in half from the attack.

* * *

'What is this?' thought a stunned Sakuya as she observed the irregular as he descend upon the battlefield like a wrathful god

'This is not the power of a level one, even level two and three Exceed would have trouble keeping up with someone like him' She thought in astonishment

She then observed the boy disappear once more from sight before he reappeared somewhere else. 'The extent he has taken magical manipulation is unprecedented, his tactics disturbingly effective, his demeanor and bloodlust simply overpowering.' She thought in awe as she observed the boy intently

She truthfully wanted to tell him to stop, that he was infringing upon the testing rights of others by interfering in their matches, but something beckoned her not to. In her mind she simply had to observe this boy's actions. She knew at this point that without a shadow of a doubt he was almost guaranteed to be the first half of the absolute duo, and since this entire project was for that sole purpose. Who was she to hinder its progress?

So it was with a satisfied small smile that she observed the proceedings neutrally 'Only a minute and a half to go' she thought giddily as she observed the battle with barely restrained childlike glee that was eerily reminiscent of her outward appearance.

Several of the students that had finished their battles had flocked towards the teachers in order to avoid the battlefield, and most importantly the monster that was currently rampaging across it, as he carved a path of destruction through it.

He suddenly appeared before a pair of two katana wielding teens that were currently fighting intensely with one another. He simply standing in the sidelines for a few seconds.

His appearance at this point was slightly disheveled from all the fighting, namely a bit of dust and blood on his jacket which was now open revealing his white under-shirt and showing his tie to be a bit loose. His hands and the sleeves of his arms were another story however as they were covered in dust and blood, as well as a gash on his right arm that was bleeding freely from the fight with the girl earlier.

The two boys were about evenly matched and were fairly sufficient with their swords, even if they were simply trying to overpower one another.

He waited for the next time they separated from clashing blades and made room between one another, before they rushed at one another again and simply walked in between the two of them, surprising both of them immensely as he stood in the way of their attacks. This stunning those observing especially Imari, the girl he had saved, and the silver haired girl from earlier, all of who had been observing his actions nervously already for quite a while, their battles already over.

Suddenly both of their attacks were effectively halted by Tooru who did not even look at either as he continued to look forward unseeingly, before turning to the one to his left and staring at him emotionlessly. The boy staring back with a mixture of surprise and growing horror.

Tooru had blocked the blow from his right with his Blaze while he grabbed the wrist of the sword arm of the teen to his left, incapacitating both.

He then did something that shocked everyone that was gazing at the battle speechless, he maneuvered the hand of the male whose wrist he was holding and forced him to plunge the blade into the other student's shoulder. This making the said boy cry out in pain as the one who was forced to do so froze up in shock as he looked on wide-eyed in stunned silence.

This caused Sakuya's and several of the professor's eyes to widen as they realized what had just happened. Blaze were not supposed to actually harm anyone physically unless there was a strong killing intent behind them which that other student had lacked, which meant that the irregular had just established his own will over the other students Blaze. This being something that should theoretically be impossible as that would mean that you would have to subjugate another person's soul to your will, no one should be able to do such a thing. Yet the proof was before their very eyes.

Immediately the other teen dispersed his blaze as his arm immediately drifted towards the blade subconsciously, he whimpering in pain as he tried to grasp the blade to tear it out only to find it impossible to do so.

Tooru the leant forwards until he was mere inches from the frozen teen's ear "If you lack the will to inflict such harm upon others how do you intend to conquer your enemies? I will show you the pain you must conquer in order for you to dole it out." he whispered darkly into the teen's ear before his arms became alight with crackling golden energy.

He then positioned his left arm slightly below the teen's own extended arm, the same arm which second's ago had been holding the blade that was currently impaled into his adversary's shoulder, and quickly smashed his energy coated right arm upon the teen's arm just slightly above his elbow - he using his own forearm as a base. The resounding sickening crack as the teen's arm broke under the assault echoing across the hall as it snapped like a twig.

This making most of those that had at this point not yet completed their battles turn towards the sound only to hear a heart wrenching scream tear itself from the teen as he writhed on the ground in pain while flailing his arm helplessly – it sticking out at a grotesque angle. It was only through sheer luck that the bone had not broken through the skin from the attack.

At this point the teen's adversary who was himself injured was staring on in horror as he looked at this monster ruthlessly destroy them.

Tooru then leaned forward once more as he addressed the downed teen "I inflict this pain upon you knowing full well what it feels like. If you have anger release it, if you intend to inflict pain on another however be prepared to receive it in turn." he said seriously before he whirled around and yanked the blade out of the other teen's shoulder in one swift movement, making blood spurt out of the wound and causing the teen to cry out in pain as he stumbled.

Immediately Tooru swung the sword horizontally with his left hand, stopping the blade mere inches from the teen's neck who was currently attempting to staunch his bleeding shoulder.

"You're dead" Tooru said emotionlessly, this making the teen grow wide-eyed before Tooru's leg suddenly lashed out and impacted the teen in the stomach. The force of the blow ultimately causing the teen to be launched away from them – Tooru releasing the blade into the air as he did so. He then pushed the blade using his forearm in mid-air, spinning it once before quickly grabbing it and impaling it next to its owner's head. The action immediately making the whimpering teen silence himself as he looked at it in equal amounts fear and surprise. He then turning to his would be killer, who was only staring on impassively.

"You're weak" Tooru said coldly, the statement hitting the teen like a ton of bricks "That beside you is your soul yet you have no real control over it, me being able to wield it without your consent shows how weak your will really is. You being here means you have a purpose, but ask yourself are you as you are presently worthy of it? Overcome your weaknesses, master your strengths, and solidify your will – for in order to seize your own future you must know what you desire first." Tooru lectured before he kneeled down and knocked the teen unconscious with a punch to the gut.

'40 seconds' Tooru thought as he blocked an overhead strike from behind with his blaze from someone that was clearly not happy at the earlier display of brutality, this being a girl with long brown hair that fell in waves down her back who was wielding a tanto.

Not feeling up to another battle with lots of conversation he simply landed an open palm strike on her chest that was infused with golden energy, the strike being so quick and unexpected it caught her completely unawares as she was blasted backwards. She barely managing to remain upright as she dug her feet into the ground as she skidded backwards.

Tooru then slowly stood up making the remaining people that were left on the battlefield tense – most of them having abandoned their ongoing battles and now intent on simply not allowing this monster to continue unchecked.

Suddenly before all their eyes he simply disappeared making them all go wide-eyed as he was nowhere to be seen.

"Over there!" shouted a teen with a short sword as he pointed it towards Tooru who was currently standing near the back of the hall, he being in the middle walkway between where the chairs had been positioned prior to the beginning of the battle. Most of them rushing forwards to take him out.

'15 seconds' he thought as he closed his eyes, the rest of the students trying to take him out at this point.

"Ahhhhhhh!" he roared as his arms became alight with golden flames as his golden eyes snapped open aflame with power. This momentarily surprising his foes as they stopped for a single instant in their charge, before they continued onwards to what they assumed was a challenge.

He then did something that left the observers completely astonished – lifting both his arms and smashing them into the ground before him he caused the area directly in front of him to crater as the ground was upheaved in waves before the two points of impact. The attack destroying the two sections of the room that had previously been the sitting areas and disabling everyone that was still on the battlefield either from the attack itself, or the debris that resulted from it.

'Zero' he thought as the ten minute battle was over, he recalling the golden flames that coated his arms back revealing that he was not uninjured from the powerful move as his arms were covered in blood and the sleeves of his suit were in tatters.

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the hall afterwards, the only sound being the low groaning of some of the people having been knocked unconscious. Sakuya herself staring onwards in awe, her pocket watch ticking uselessly in her hand as she looked upon the sole remaining participant of the conflict.

Luckily most of the participants that had defeated their partners beforehand had the forethought of removing their defeated partner from the battlefield if they were unconscious.

Tooru then calmly walked back towards his prior seating location and positioned his chair upright before dusting it off and sitting down on it. He crossing his legs and folding his hands on his lap as he regarded the stage calmly, acting as if the entire battle was but a slight interruption of the entry ceremony rather that the chaotic struggle they had all participated in.

"Winner, Tooru Kokonoe!" Rito Tsukimi shouted out as she raised an arm into the air dramatically as if calling the match. Rito was an academy professor that was currently wearing a maid dress and bunny ears. She having long, straight dark violet hair that reached all the way to her hips and had regal purple eyes that shone with underlying mirth and unbridled optimism. She was holding a clipboard in her right hand which she had used to look up the name of the irregular in order to make her little announcement – her statement having the added effect of snapping Sakuya out of her stupor.

"That would be the case if this was an official tournament, anyways time's up 30 seconds ago. I would state that only the victor's that have been decided at this point in time would be permitted entry, but I believe that would be a moot point as there is no one at this point still immersed in battle. This due in part to Mr. Kokonoe's involvement in the conflict." She stated calmly before she was cut off

"Involvement!? The guy took out nearly half our potential class by himself, isn't there some rule against that or something!? Didn't you state that we were only supposed to fight our partner!?" a male student said angrily, this getting both agreements and objections to the statement before Tooru himself spoke up silencing them as most of them were deathly afraid of him at this point, but the kind tone he spoke in seemed to catch many of them off guard.

"No, the exact words Director Sakuya utilized were the following; "'The person beside you is now your first enemy'". These were the exact words she used the second time she repeated her statement, thus establishing the teen next to me, Tsuko, as my first enemy as per her statement. She then further went on to state that we were to at some point use our Blaze during the course of the battle, she not specifying the number of times or duration of usage." He said explaining his thinking step by step

"First enemy, insinuates that it would not necessarily be my last. She also set forth a ten minute time limit, which offers all of the participants a time frame of ten minutes in which to be able to participate in the battle. She also goes as far as state "defeat others to stay alive, kill or be killed" which in turns allows the application of lethal force and enables people to fight to the fullest extent of their abilities." He explained

"A ten minute time frame, the sole requirement being the application of your Blaze and the elimination of your partner as your priority. Which insinuates…" he stated as it suddenly clicked for some of the audience

"A no-holds battle royal, with only the two aforementioned requirements" Imari replied in understanding

He nodded at that as he sent her a grateful smile making her blush slightly at that.

"Which means that essentially I could take out as many people as I could during that ten minute time interval and do so with -** extreme prejudice" **he said darkly with the same kind smile from before, it seeming a lot more twisted for some reason. This immediately serving to unnerve a number of the "victors" of the Screening Rite.

"While that was in fact not my intended meaning behind those statements I cannot fault your reasoning either, so there will not be any repercussions from my part." She stated before glancing at his arms for a second

"I also recommend you get your arms looked over before heading to class, aside from the student whose arm is currently broken you are the one in the worst shape. In fact I do believe that your injuries might be more serious that his own, frankly it's surprising that you're still conscious" she said with narrowed eyes towards him, this surprising and actually worrying some of the "victors" at that.

He simply smiled back at Sakuya at that "Why thank you for the concern my lady, but it would be rude to leave before you finish what you have to say, I did in fact battle my entire class in order to hear my cute Academy Director speak. Such _minor_ injuries aren't enough to stop me from doing so, please do continue with your presentation." He said with the same smile on his face, the statement that he fought all the people in the room just to listen to what she had to say making her blush – this not being helped by his comment regarding her as cute.

"But if it does anything to soothe your worries however, I do promise to get my injuries looked over afterwards, if only for the sole reason as to heed your recommendation and do as you say." He said with a bow of his head, the director equal parts stunned at his brashness and embarrassed by his commentary.

"Uh, very well please do so" She said as she regained her composure "Anyways allow me to leave you with these final words: May you someday reach Absolute Duo" she stated awkwardly, not really having all that much more to say at this point as the battle was over, but somehow now feeling slightly guilty about dashing his expectations like that.

Everyone suddenly heard a click be heard across the hall, as most of the people assembled turned towards the source only to find Tooru with a notebook and a tape recorder in hand. The sound being the tape recorder finishing, while with his right hand he continued writing something down before finishing and closing his notebook. Tooru then placed his tape recorder in the front pocket of his tattered jacket and put away his notebook.

"Yes!" he exclaimed as he suddenly stood up making a lot of people jump at the sudden action "I got it all, now I just need to edit all these loser's background chatter from these recordings and I will have the words of the cutest director in the world! It was worth every injury and battle, new ringtone here I come!" he said excitedly to himself

"Umm, Tooru" Imari said trying to grab the boy's attention as he ranted on and on about the cuteness of most of the girls attending the academy and of "his" uber cute director. Imari at one point hearing her own name across the number of listed girls, making her embarrassed as she blushed at that. Even the director was openly blushing at this point, when he stated that he would use her voice as a sort of lullaby in order to help him sleep.

"The one true unchanging righteousness in the world is cuteness after all! Cute makes right!" he continued ranting before he heard the voice of a beacon of cuteness call out to him.

"Yeah, Imari?" he asked happily

"You're speaking your thoughts out loud" Imari said to him, this making him look around to see several blushing females, with a number of male students snickering at him. There was also one girl that seemed to openly be glaring at him as well.

He could not help blushing at the news "Stop listening to my thoughts!" he yelled indignantly, this having the added reaction making a few of the guys break out into gouts of laughter at that.

"Stay out of my head!" he shouted as he made to run away towards the infirmary intent on obeying the recommendation of his Sakuya-chan, before he abruptly stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Oh, I almost forgot" he said as he grabbed the guy whose arm he broke and threw him over his shoulder. He then went to the girl who he had smashed into the ground earlier and pulled her flush against himself before he seemingly disappeared from sight in an instant.

"That's so cool" a student said referring to how he was able to suddenly disappear like that, several others nodding in agreement

* * *

**Author's Note**

_The ideology that cuteness makes right I got from No Game No Life, this will be a near philosophy of Tooru throughout the series. Tooru is not a pervert he is just obsessed with all things he labels as cute, it is his philosophy that it is for cuteness that he fights and is willing to give everything he has. _

_While he might seem quite powerful, all he really has at this point are; quick wits, a ruthless personality whilst in combat, and his shield. The energy manipulation and speed technique are things he developed in order to cover his own shortcomings of not having a weapon. The energy techniques still do the same amount of damage as canon, there is just one difference – he isn't holding back. In canon he states that a simple attack utilizing what will later come to be called Mjolnir when he was lvl. 1 nearly dislocated his shoulder, in my story he has more practice with using it and has a higher pain tolerance. A good deal of damage is still being inflicted upon his arms at using it, but he just has a higher tolerance to the pain the damage brings to him._

_He is about on par combat and skill wise with a lvl. 2 or 3, he isn't as resilient as them however, nor does he have any of the superhuman abilities higher level Elcidae possess._

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own No Game No life or any referenced or related works in that may appear in this story._

* * *

**Edited: 11/20/2015**


	2. Lasting Farewells

**Note: This chapter has been edited for quality assurance purposes. 11/20/2015 – Cuddly Cat**

* * *

**Chapter II**

* * *

**Lasting Farewells**

**~x~**

**At the Infirmary**

Currently Tooru was in the infirmary, he already having been patched up and told to take it easy for the next few days. The sleeves of his black school jacket had been cut off as they had been deemed damaged beyond repair by the nurse, while the sleeves of his white undershirt were simply rolled up to the elbow. The nurse had then applied salve, antiseptic, and rubbing alcohol on his wounds amongst other things and then wrapped his wounds carefully in specialized bandages up to his elbows – which was where the burns and injuries stopped for the most part.

The nurse having commented on how he needed to be more careful from now on. To which he had retorted that he looked nearly twice as cool as before with the bandages and torn sleeves – before adding of how chicks digged scars, causing her to slap him on the back of the head at that comment. He in turn shouting out doctor abuse and how she was a quack in retaliation making her hit him again causing him to shut up this time. She then simply put a Band-Aid on the back of his hand afterwards saying "There all better" with a smile, making him sweatdrop at that.

Soon after Tsuko arrived in carrying the boy that had been stabbed earlier underarm which he promptly handed to the nurse, he glancing at Tooru for a second and giving him a respectful nod before sitting down at one of the waiting chairs. The action making Tooru smile at the fact there were no hard feelings between the two.

Now however he was currently in his own hospital bed with the curtain drawn, crying at how his entire image had been destroyed earlier and how Sakuya-chan and the rest of the girls in the academy must surely think of him as a weirdo at this point. Curse his over-excitement!

"Tooru" he heard someone call out from the other side of the curtain, making him stiffen as Imari opened the curtain slightly and walked in only to find Tooru rubbing the tears away from his eyes.

"Yeah what is it?" he asked sadly, surprising her as she thought he would be ecstatic at how well he did and how he was now officially a part of the academy.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly as she sat down at the edge of the bed

"What? Besides the fact I made a fool of myself in front of everyone, and that every girl in the academy is probably disgusted at me? Not much, you?" he asked, his voice simply dripping with sarcasm as he looked away.

"Don't be like that, I don't think that about you and I doubt many of those girls out there do either. Why I talked to most of them and they seemed almost flattered by your comments rather than disgusted. Frankly most of the girls viewed it as more cute than perverse since the actions you described, while weird, were pretty innocent in nature." she said with a teasing smile at that

"Really?" he said hopefully as he looked at her with big puppy dog eyes

'So cute' she raged in her mind as she looked at him "Really, I mean I for one have heard of way more disturbing things than using the voice of your principal as you ringtone" she said with a teasing smirk making him blush at that

"You heard that too?" he asked almost fearfully

"Every word" she said back to him cheerfully, making him groan at that as he buried his head into his pillow.

"What's wrong?" she asked "I already told you most of the girls are cool with it, and the guy's either thought of it as a practical joke or are simply too afraid of you to do anything" she said honestly

"It's not that, it's Sakuya-chan, she probably thinks of me as some obsessed weirdo at this point" he said dejectedly as he hugged his pillow closer to his chest for comfort.

"I can see why she might think that" Imari replied as she took up a thinking expression, this making him nearly start crying in despair once more at that. If there was something he could not live with it was the idea of someone he liked thinking lowly of him.

"But I actually saw her blushing at most of your comments, and from what I saw she did not look all that against it. In fact from what I heard her talk to the other professors about you, it was all positive and she seemed really interested in you. She even granted you Exception status as she deemed your magical affinity and skill was worthy of it since it simply was not natural, even amongst most Elcidae." She explained making him look at her happily at that

"Whew, that was a close call, I would not know how to take it if the entire school hated me from day one and thought me a pervert" he said in relief

"Yeah, they're only scared to death of you for crushing half the class in an instant - that is so much better" she said sarcastically, making him roll his eyes at that

"I explained my reasons for that already" he replied coolly as he calmed down from his mini-depression.

"Tooru?" she said softly to him

"Yeah?" he replied as he pulled on his bandages

"Did you mean what you said?" she asked quietly

"About what?" he asked distractedly

"About me being cute?" she asked him, immediately making Tooru's fight or flight sensors kick into overdrive – he ultimately deciding a quick and honest response was for the best.

"Of course I did, from the moment I first saw you I thought you were cute, heck I thought what you said about that silver haired girl was the most ironic thing ever as what you said technically fit you perfectly as well, 'A cute young thing' as you called her." He said as he chuckled at that

What happened next however surprised him greatly. Imari suddenly leaned over and pecked him on the cheek softly, the action making him blush at that.

"That was really sweet of you" she said as she smiled at him softly, Tooru simply stammering unintelligibly in surprise at the action.

"You know you're quite cute yourself, and while you're strong you still care about others – as evidenced by you bringing those two here. You may be a little weird around the edges…" she said with a smirk as he pouted at that "but you have a good heart, and I can respect that." she finished with a sincere smile

"I did not mean to hurt them so badly you know, it's just combat for me is a whole different ballgame. I'm a different person whilst in combat. Just like I'm a different person while amongst friends, like how I act around you" he said sadly at first before a kind smile found its way onto his face at the end, she smiling back at the fact he regarded her as a friend.

"Well we better get going, classes start in half an hour" he said as he looked at his wrist watch and jumped out of bed.

"Are you really fit to be out of bed?" she asked worriedly as she watched him stretch a bit

"Sure, there is nothing wrong with my legs now is there, and I doubt we'll be writing notes or anything of the sort in this school – and even if we do, it probably won't be on the first day." He said confidently, the logic behind his statement being too strong for her to refute.

"Plus I want to say goodbye as well as apologize to a few people that I fought that will probably be leaving soon. In fact all three of them are in this infirmary I do believe"

"If they're here why didn't you just talk with them earlier?" she asked him curiously

"I was too busy mourning what I thought was my destroyed future to care" he said honestly as he walked out making her sweatdrop at that before she followed after him.

* * *

Tooru quickly noticed that Tsuko had already left making him curse mentally at that. He then went on to see that the guy whose arm he had broken was still in his bed, while the girl was lying down in her own bed, but awake. He decided to walk towards the girl first.

"Hey" he called out awkwardly as he walked in

"Oh the valiant prince arrives to gloat, or does the term merciless monster apply better to you I wonder?" she asked with a bloodthirsty smirk from the bed, the statement earning a wince from Tooru at the way she said it.

"Yeah sorry about that, I may have gone a little overboard back there" he said guiltily as he observed the remarkably cute girl laying injured in a hospital bed thanks to him.

She had short spiky ebony black hair with red tips, a hair pin set into her hair helping to tame her bangs. She possessed a lithe figure and wine-red eyes, she being average height for her age at around 5'7. She had fair skin and soft features which only helped to draw attention to her intense red eyes, a smirk currently set on her face as she regarded at him with a look he simply could not identify. Overall she definitely had a cute bad girl thing going for her.

She was currently wearing medical gown that had likely been given to her by the nurse and had her head propped up slightly by a pair of pillows.

"You think?" she said sarcastically "If I had not blocked you're not so little attack with my katana, I would have likely been cut in half by that move. I mean first you take out my "Partner" in the most humiliating way possible, in the process taking away the opportunity for me to do so and complete the rite. Then you go and take me out of the fight in an instant with a single move. It wasn't even a fight, you just tripped me and while I was in mid-air attempted to cut me in half with that pseudo karate chop of yours. Do you even know how that feels, to be treated as nothing by another while you're giving it your all?" she asked making Tooru lower his head in shame at that.

"It was wonderful!" she shouted happily from her resting position, surprising both Tooru and Imari at the declaration.

"Huh?" Tooru voiced dumbly at that

"The way you treated me like nothing, like an easily disposable nuisance, a simple obstacle in your path. I have never in all my life felt such a sense of inferiority to another – it was as if an ant were attempting to challenge God! That is how powerless I felt at that moment before you. It was without a doubt one of the most eye-opening, impactful moments of my entire life. If it weren't for this back pain I have right now I would kiss you." she said honestly, she having hearts in her eyes as he looked at him - this making Tooru blush in surprise at it all. She was _happy _to have lost in an instant against him and was actually grateful for it, well that was new.

"Who says you can't?" Imari cut in making his eyes widen at that as he looked at her in disbelief.

"Tooru the girl is offering to kiss you after you hurt her, the least you owe her is a kiss" she said seriously, he lowering his head in shame at that as he caved in and nodded making both Imari and the girl smirk at that.

"Fine" he said making the girl light up at that "But only on the cheek, and you have to tell me your name first" he added making the girl look a little disappointed at that, before she lit up at the prospect of kissing him and nodded happily in response. Leaning forward with his cheeks aflame as he gazed at her blushing face Tooru soon enough found himself mere inches from her.

"My name is Kurumi" she said shyly as she took in his flushed face, his sharp golden eyes cutting into her as they grazed over her face and trailed over her body.

"T-Tooru" he said as he looked at her cute expression and slowly leaned forwards to kiss her, he being so nervous the act felt a bit more difficult that it should have.

She finally got tired of his slow descent and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her, almost making him stumble onto the bed, he barely managing to hold himself upright by using his arms. He then noticed that she was kissing him on the cheek with her eyes closed as she did so, this being precariously close to his lips – causing him to blush and making him move back slightly in surprise.

She licked her lips at the kiss, before she placed an index finger on top of her lips "That was sweet, can I have another?" she asked cutely as she tilted her head towards him, a seductive undertone prevalent in her voice as she spoke. Her eyes looking at him pleadingly as she awaited his response.

'Such moe!' he thought passionately 'Well two can play at that game!' he thought with a mad twinkle in his eye.

"Oh, but that would not be fair now would it. I have yet to kiss you myself, it would be unfair to you if I were the only one to be kissed. Besides, I want to kiss you too." he said with a small pout at that, using the same seductive undertone she had used earlier and catching her off-guard.

'Ha, take that! Reverse moe!' he exclaimed in his mind excitedly at that

"Uh, I-I guess you are right. I think," she said in slight confusion "Does that mean that I can kiss you again after you kiss me?" she asked after regaining her composure slightly

'Its super effective!' he thought as he observed her flushed expression

"If you want to." He said as he shrugged "It's not like I hate kissing a cute girl like you, you know. Quite the contrary in fact." he said with a smile, unaware at what his words were doing to the poor girl as she blushed scarlet at his comment.

"Okay, can I have my get well kiss now" she said embarrassedly as she looked away with a blush, he simply nodding at that as he leaned forward and pecked her on the cheek – she then repeating the action of kissing him on the cheek from earlier. However things escalated a bit when Tooru decided that he wanted the final say in this after all and kissed her near the side of her neck, he going progressively lower each peck he gave her. This quickly reducing her to a moaning mess as he smirked at his success.

It was at this point that Imari decided to intervene before things got any more heated between the two, Tooru having started licking the girl's neck sensually at this point as she was panting with her eyes closed. Imari simply pulling on his collar and dragging him away from the girl, looking at him with equal parts amusement and annoyance.

"So what happened to 'a simple kiss on the cheek', huh?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow

"He-he, sorry, sorry" he said apologetically making her sigh at that

'Maybe friends are too big a pain in the butt to have after all' she thought tiredly, it really seemed like Tooru would be huge emotional baggage in the long run.

"Oh, taking advantage of a cute defenseless girl like me who can't even move, how could you?" Kurumi said dramatically as she pressed the back of her hand against her forehead as if she was faint from the very thought.

"You better be prepared to take responsibility for your actions Tooru-_sama_" she said seductively, this making him take on a fake offended expression at that.

"Of course my lady, what type of man do you take me for?" he said dramatically as he pulled out the notebook he had been using earlier with a flourish.

"Can I have your contact information?" he said seriously as he flipped a couple of pages on his notebook and pulled out a pen.

This making Kurumi smile at that as she responded "Oh well for starters my phone number is-"

"Okay, that's it! You're out of here mister!" Imari interrupted as she literally dragged the wide-eyed Tooru away from the equally surprised Kurumi.

"But-" Tooru started before she cut him off once more

"No buts! Go apologize to the other people you brutally crushed, hopefully if they're a girl you can get a head start on making out with her before I get there!" she exclaimed angrily before drawing the curtain to Kurumi's bed close in his face, leaving him standing there in shock.

"But you were the one that told me to kiss her in the first place!" He shouted back in confusion only to get no response. This causing him to scratch the back of his head awkwardly at that as he looked at his notebook. He actually wanted to get Kurumi's contact info so they could stay in touch even after she left the academy. He shook the hand holding the notebook for a few seconds before nodding to himself before squatting down and quietly sliding the notebook under the curtain. Hopefully Imari would notice it, and even if she didn't Kurumi was sure to.

He then looked towards the bed with the guy whose arm he broke and couldn't sighing at the confrontation that was sure to follow.

* * *

**With Imari**

She was blushing up a storm at this point, damn him for flustering her like this, how inconsiderate of him to kiss Kurumi so passionately while she was right here. However he was right, she had in fact been the one that had encouraged him to do so. She simply had not thought it would go that far, that quickly.

She had to be careful of him, the guy was quick that was for sure. It was then that Imari noticed the small pocketbook that was next to her foot before bending down to pick it up. She quickly taking note of the page having a heart drawn on it that said Kurumi inside of it which had a blank space under it for the contact info making her eye twitch at that.

She looked up at Kurumi giving her the evil eye as she did so "You so owe me for this" she said as she sighed and handed her the notebook, making Kurumi smile at that.

"Hai, hai" she said as she took the notebook and filled out the blank with her contact info before handing it back to her. Imari quickly making to catch up with Tooru.

"Umm, could you please do me a favor before you go?" Kurumi said with a grin, her face hidden by her bangs.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?" Imari said distractedly, her mind on Tooru

"Nothing much, just a little favor" she said softly, her smile widening at the thought

'Yes, just one small favor…'

* * *

**With Tooru**

Tooru was currently standing outside the curtained-off section where his apparent victim currently was incapacitated.

Steeling his resolve he walked in

Only to find the teen holding his arm in a cast as he looked at it thoughtfully, he looking up as soon as he walked in, his eyes widening as he saw who it was.

"Look I just wanted to -" Tooru started before he was cut off as the teen lifted up his other hand to silence him.

The teen simply looked on at him for a few seconds silently in contemplation before he finally spoke.

"Thank you" the teen said as he smiled at Tooru

_**10 minutes later...**_

Tooru was currently walking out of the room with a neutral expression on his face, not sure exactly how to take all that he talked about with the young man. He vaguely noticing as Imari walked up to him.

"What? The person I talked to was a guy so you have nothing to worry about you know" he said offhandedly making her flinch at that

"Ah-ha-ha, sorry about that. That was a bit uncalled for on my part" she said as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly at that, a nervous smile on her face.

"Its fine don't worry about it" he said dismissively with a smile making her relax at that "So what was it you wanted then?" he asked

"Oh" she said in realization "I talked with Kurumi and amongst other things she asked if you would be willing to take a commemorative pic with her, and if you would visit her before she is supposed to leave tomorrow." she explained with a smile

"Oh, of course I would" he said as he started walking towards Kurumi's bed once more "I still need to meet up with Tsuko before he leaves today though, so it will have to be a quick one, maybe we can take some more tomorrow or something though to make up for it." he said happily getting a thoughtful nod from her at that.

"Imari" Tooru said as he stopped outside of Kurumi's section

"Yeah?" Imari asked as she looked at him

"People are weird" he said confusing her as she tilted her head at that

"I mean the guy whose arm I broke thanked me for it, and the girl who I slammed into the ground and almost cut in half kissed me and wants a commemorative picture with me" he said in clear disbelief at what he himself was saying.

"I don't know what to say to that," Imari said with a sweatdrop at that "except for that to some extent I agree with you. Heck you're pretty weird yourself." she said with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk, making him blush at that – he not able to refute that after his previous display in the Opening Ceremony.

Without another word he walked into Kurumi's section which was next to the window of the infirmary and pulled the curtain.

He momentarily stopped in his tracks as he saw her sitting up slightly propped by a couple of pillows, something likely done with the help of Imari, as he was once more struck speechless at how cute she was. She was currently looking out the window, but the moment he walked in her head snapped towards him and her face lit up.

He lifted his hand in greeting "I'm back, Imari said something about you wanting to take a picture?" he asked her

"Oh yes indeed, I just want to take one with you real quickly if it would not be any trouble" she said bashfully

"Sure, I still have 15 minutes to get to class, from what Imari says it's quite close by so we're in no hurry" he stated as he walked up next to her, she beaming at his response.

"That's great! Let me just grab my phone" she said as she reached to the left where the side table was only to cry out it pain at her sudden movement, she almost stumbling out of the bed at that if it weren't for Tooru quickly grabbing hold of her.

"Whoa there, no need to force yourself. I'll get it for you." He said worriedly as he positioned her upright once more with her back against the pillows stacked behind her

"It's this one right?" he asked as he grabbed a quarter-thin rectangular device

"That's the one" she said happily to him as he pulled up a chair and sat next to her

"I really am sorry for hurting you so much Kurumi, it really wasn't my intention, I thought the blade would block most of the blow." he said guiltily

"It's fine don't worry about it" she said as she waved her hands in front of her dismissively "Plus, if it weren't for this pain I wouldn't have met you" she whispered under her breath, it being too low for him to make out what she said.

"What was that?" he asked her, he not having caught what she said, but knowing she said something.

"Nothing" she responded quickly as she smiled again at him "How about that picture then?" she asked him cutely

"Oh, right" he said weakly as he stared at the phone confusedly

"Um, how do you turn it on?" he asked after a while of simply looking at it intently, this making both of the girls in the room sweatdrop at that.

"You mean you don't know your way around a cellphone?" Imari asked in disbelief

"Not the newer models no, I still use my older model cellphone as I am more efficient with it, these new one's are a bit confusing for me" he admitted as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly making both of them sigh at that.

"I knew he was too perfect" Imari muttered under her breath as she sighed, it was actually quite nice to know he wasn't proficient at everything.

"Okay look do you see that little indentation there" Kurumi said as she pointed at the phone as she leaned closer to him, he doing the same so they were nearly shoulder to shoulder.

"Here?" he asked as he pointed to somewhere on the screen making her roll her eyes at that

"That's the camera" she said with a small smile

"To the middle right, there should be a portion of the screen that almost makes your finger stick to it. Simply tap that twice and it should turn on." She explained

He quickly did as instructed and was rewarded as the thin metal bar came to life as the display turned on. The sound of a bell ringing and an anime cat head appearing for a second as the logo of the phone appeared as it started up.

"Did you see that Kurumi, I did it!" he said excitedly with a grin as he showed her his apparent success.

Both girls could not help but smile warmly at his excitement at simply turning on a phone, he was just too cute sometimes.

"I most definitely did see that, good job" she said to him, amusement clear in her voice as she patted him on the shoulder comfortingly, making him blush.

"Now give it here so I can insert my password, I feel that if I let you do this it will take a lot longer than the time we have, and I actually want to take a picture today you know." she said jokingly to him as she extended her hand to him, making him blush at her comment as he handed it over to her.

She quickly tapping the screen several times "There!" she said happily as she opened the camera application on the phone

"Well come on, I can't exactly jump out of bed and sit on your lap. Lean over so I can get you in the shot" she said to him

"Oh, uh, right" he said as he sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over so he was almost cheek to cheek with her.

They both smiled at the camera but after a few seconds he started to get confused as there was no flash or anything, wasn't she going to take a picture?

Meanwhile Imari was laughing softly as she held a hand over her mouth. She knew what Kurumi was doing, she had the camera set on shutter. For each second that passed 3-5 pictures depending on the phone was being taken.

Just when Tooru was about to inquire as to when she would take the picture, he suddenly felt a kiss on his cheek making his eyes widen at that.

"Ku-Kurumi, what is-?" he was suddenly cut off as she pressed a finger to his lips

"Shh, just let me have this. Just a few minutes, please" she begged as she looked up at him pleadingly, he immediately crumbling under her request as he simply nodded

She quickly redacted her finger away from his lips and handed the camera to Imari who was looking at all of this softly. They already having talked beforehand and come to terms with one another.

Kurumi taking advantage of the moment to rest her head against his chest as she nuzzled into him.

They remained that way in silence for a while, Tooru simply looking at her as she rested against him with her eyes closed.

'This girl, she acts tough but she really wears her heart on her sleeve doesn't she?' he thought as he looked at her sadly, she almost looked like she was a child when he saw her like this

As the minutes ticked by however he could not help but think of what reason she had for coming to a school such as this. This quickly reminding him that she would in fact not be attending as she had not defeated her partner during the initiation and had lost to him no less.

He had taken this sweet girl's chances of attending this school away due to his own selfishness and impulsive behavior. She could have made friends here, built bonds, maybe even found someone she liked here. Maybe even the two of them could have shared something special, but because of his own actions such a thing was no longer within the spectrum of possibility.

Each second that passed with her lying against him like that, she not blaming him for anything, instead having thanked him, and then having asked him to spend time with her. It tore his heart apart.

He would have rather have her screaming at him in anger, crying in frustration, blaming him, cursing him, he didn't care!

'But why?' he thought as he looked down at her smiling face as she rested against him with her eyes closed 'Why was she smiling? What reason had she to do such a thing when faced with the one who took her dreams away?'

Without his consent he soon felt tears start to fall from his cheeks, just how many dreams of people like Kurumi had he crushed today? How many people will have to return home and do the same as he used to do and waste away in self-pity and anger?

What Kurumi had jokingly called him earlier started echoing in his head "merciless monster", as he remembered exactly what he done to the other students he found himself agreeing with such a label. There was meant to be no intent to cause harm to others during that exhibition match, it was a match between future classmates after all, comrades in arms.

It was as if he had brought a real gun to a paintball fight and turned what should have been a friendly event into a much more life-threatening one. He had let his bloodlust get the best of him, and even though he had justified himself to others through him having still followed the rules, could he truly justify his actions with feeble words? Could he truly convince himself using the dry logic he had displayed? No he could not, for he knew the truth.

He had done what he did because he enjoyed it, losing himself to bloodlust and to the thrill of battle, it was the ultimate release of his inhibitions. It was when he became exactly that, a monster.

Like back then…

"Ah" he said as he felt a hand rest upon his cheek and wipe away his tears, this making him gather his bearings once more to notice both Kurumi and Imari looking at him worriedly.

"Are you okay?" Kurumi asked worriedly, confused as to what had brought this on. She expected many things from him at her actions, embarrassment, shyness, anger, or even acceptance. Crying however was not one of them.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me" he said as he wiped away his tears with the back of his arm "Never been better, see?" he said as he gave them all a strained smile, but even they who had met him just today could tell that his heart wasn't fully in it.

"Tooru" Imari said softly as she looked at him worriedly

"Even if that's the case there is something that is troubling you, one simply does not cry without reason. Whatever it is you can trust us, we're your friends, – aren't we?" Kurumi asked a bit hesitant in the end at what he might say in response to her calling herself his friend.

He sighed at that as he wrapped his arms around Kurumi surprising her greatly at that. However as she made to comment on this she noticed he wasn't even looking at her at this point and had a far off look in his eyes as he gazed out of the window.

"If you must know, it's just some old memories suddenly came rushing back all of a sudden" he said seriously to the both of them, shocking them greatly at how the seemingly playful personality he possessed was shed away just like that.

"Kurumi?" he said to her as he gazed straight into her eyes, the action causing a blush to form itself across her face, she not knowing how to react to such a sudden shift in personality.

"Yes?" she squeaked out as she had turned slightly and was now looking up at him. He then leaned down slightly to the point their faces were mere inches away from one another.

'This is a lot different from how he was acting before' she thought with a blush, there was no hesitation in his actions.

"I'm sorry" he said as he looked her in the eye, she staring back wide-eyed as she lost herself in his golden eyes that at the moment held such a rich spectrum of emotion she was temporarily struck speechless.

For the first time in a long time Kurumi did not know what to say…

* * *

**Outside the clinic **

Tooru had just walked out of the clinic with a very thoughtful Imari trailing behind him as she cast curious glances to him every now and again.

She had just decided that Tooru was a lot more complicated than she thought, and all that about memories, it had really made her curious about his past that was for sure.

"Yo" said a guy that was leaning against a far off wall when Tooru walked out, this being none other than Tsuko.

Tooru simply lifted his hand in greeting to the teen

"Tsuko, hey I just wanted to-" he started to say before the big teen raised a hand up to stop him

"Now let me stop you right there Tooru. Now I know you aren't going to apologize for beating me in that fight." He said with a knowing look "You won against me fair and square, it was a fight against two men giving it their all and the better man won. That's all there is to it, if anything it just goes to show that I have to train harder and get stronger." Tsuko said with a good natured smile making Tooru smile as well at that.

"So no hard feelings?" Tooru asked as he extended his hand to the teen making said teen's smile widen.

"Not at all, what do you take me for, a sore loser?" Tsuko said jokingly as he shook Tooru's hand.

"Heck, next time we meet I hope to kick your ass, that's now officially one of my goals in life" he said seriously making Tooru sweatdrop at that, not knowing how to react to such a declaration.

"Oh, and who's this?" he asked as he noticed Imari for the first time who was watching the conversation awkwardly, she not knowing how to contribute to it at all.

"Oh this is Imari, a friend of mine. Imari this is Tsuko." He said as he gestured to each person respectively

"It's nice to meet you Tsuko-san" Imari said cordially

"Likewise" Tsuko responded simply with an acknowledging nod "But wow Tooru you sure work quick huh?" he said with a smirk confusing said teen at the comment

"I mean it's not even been a day and you already got yourself a girl, damn I wish I was that good with the ladies" Tsuko said whimsically at the end

"It's not like that, you see we're just friends." Tooru said embarrassedly, making Tsuko nod understandingly at that.

"Uh-huh, I've heard that one before" Tsuko said with a smirk before he noticed that Tooru actually wasn't following along and likely meant what he said "I see, Imari was it?" he asked the girl making her nod.

"I have some advice for you – stake your claim" he said with all the bluntness of a sledgehammer

"I now know the type of man that my rival here is, he is what I call a subconscious womanizer. He subconsciously does everything to make a woman fall in love with him without the intention of doing so." He explained to her who was now sporting a blush at this point.

'R-rival' Tooru thought in confusion, the rest of what the guy said going right over his head as he registered it as total B.S.

"Now the reason that I'm telling you to stake your claim, is that guy's like him will end up attracting a lot of female attention whether intentional or unintentional. So far has he done anything that could have enticed anyone to possibly like him in a romantic manner?" he questioned her seriously

Immediately her thoughts drifted to his interactions with Kurumi and his declarations in the study hall, so in the end she nodded at that.

"Wait you're actually going along with this!?" Tooru asked in clear disbelief as he was promptly ignored.

Tsuko simply nodded back at that already having expected such a thing "Okay what you need to do is that while you have a head start on the competition you have to, like I said, stake your claim. People like him usually end up with a large group of female friends, but there is a wall between being a friend and something more that is quite large. Now what I recommend is that you blow right through his defenses with an initial assertive approach and then go for cute at every opportunity you can afterwards" he lectured as Imari nodded at this his advice making Tooru look on in disbelief

"I'm right here you know!?" he exclaimed in growing frustration

"You need to do this because the longer you are in the friend category the higher the risk of being friend-zoned by someone like him. This however doesn't mean you have to tie him to a bed and have your way with him, a mere recognition of romantic interest and affirmation of it should do fine, then stake your position. Men like him tend to have girls inevitably end up in close proximity, usually in a circle of friends. This circle of friends usually ends up in a race against one another to claim their man." He explained, she nodding at most of this seeing it as a definite possibility with his earlier behavior.

"Now here is what makes this different for you and him. According to law, the Exceed, us, are a different race than humans, as such there are different sets of laws put in place by the admiralty concerning us – predominately the one that concerns you however is that such things as polygamy are legal." He said dropping the bomb on her, this surprising even Tooru at that as he had not known such a thing.

"That means that potentially Tooru over there has a high probability of "accidentally" forming a Harem just from being here!" he said as he pointed at Tooru dramatically, this making Imari's eyes widen at that, while Tooru just rolled his own.

"Now you may wonder why such a law is in place, it's actually quite simple, female Exceed outnumber males 2 to 1 on average. This is due to something in their genetic structure that allows females of being twice as likely to have a Blaze, something about having two X-chromosomes or something. Now due to the genetic manipulation on your person a female Exceed is unable of reproducing with a normal human, this was detailed in your consent form before the procedure to activate your Blaze" at this point even Tooru was listening as this sounded like actually pertinent information.

"Which means that females have a very limited pool of males to choose from. Now what this means for you is that from the get-go there is already on average one girl that might chase after your man." He explained to her

"Now the Exceed as a whole are slightly more animalistic in nature due to both their physiology and mentality. This is the reason all of them, even the weakest and most inexperienced, are proficient in combat. Now if you introduce a powerful alpha male into this scenario or even one that differs from the general male populace it will create an interest in the female population. If my info is right he has already established himself as the strongest and also is unique due to his Blaze. Now it's only a matter of time before girls start to show an interest in him and then… move in for the kill" he said in a serious tone with narrowed eyes

"This is not an animal documentary!" Tooru shouted in frustration "People are not that narrow minded!"

"Now while you cannot technically stop him from getting any female friends or partners you can filter out people that you consider as undesirable or that you see will be over-possessive of him. Basically you can establish yourself as an alpha female, a role that will likely only be shared with his duo partner if they are also a female and it is not you." He explained

"I think I finally get it" Tooru said in a thoughtful pose making both of them actually look at him for a second surprised at his tone, he then looking up at Tsuko seriously "You're a pervert"

Tsuko took slight offense at that but continued with his speech "Now of course the path such a romantic relationship could take is actually unknown, but this is just the basic route I am telling you. Here's the phone number of my big sis, she had an encounter with one such male in middle school, so she probably knows more about it than me and can explain it from a girl's point of view." He said as he quickly wrote down his sister's number and handed it to Imari

"Overall however it all depends on the actions of the guy and how dense they truly are" he said before from out of nowhere a golden shimmering fist crashed into the side of his head, it sending him blasting down the hall leaving a shell-shocked Imari holding onto the note.

"You play too many damn Dating-sim's! Stop corrupting Imari-chan with your stupid! Come on Imari let's get out of here!" he said as he grabbed her wrist and started to walk away

"Harem ending for life!" Tsuko shouted from down the hall making Tooru's eye twitch at the fact he did not pack enough power into the punch to knock him unconscious.

"Just ignore him" Tooru said tiredly as they continued towards their classroom

"Good luck Imari!" Tsuko shouted before they finally got out of sight

"Hehehehe, I give them two weeks tops before they get together" he said as he picked himself off the ground and dusted off his clothes before he made to go home, a large grin on his face.

* * *

**-X-**

**Author's Note **

This chapter establishes the reason for the harem he shall later have, such things without a reason or justification just ruffles my feathers.

A lot of fluff and comedy this chapter. Some emotional scenes and allusions to his past. As is stated in the summary however instead of him being held back by his past he will be empowered by it and as such while it did impact him it won't hold him back.

Some inner turmoil this chapter due to his acts during the entrance ceremony, this mostly due to the fact he believes he took things a bit too far as it was in his mind just a combat exercise. He will however have no problem performing acts such as killing and will not hold back at all in combat against those that are a threat to him or those he cares about. Blaze and energy manipulation are all about intent, they can ultimately be as deadly or as harmless as the user intends them to be.

Next chapter shall bring to close the intro to Koryo Academy or to those that watch the anime episode 1. It will also introduce the majority of the main cast and give everyone their respective duo, duos are the same as canon minus Imari who will likely have to have a female OC as her partner.

Understand that this is slightly A.U. and will at times differ from canon either because of Tooru's behavior and/or decisions. Because of this certain scenes, backgrounds, and or rules/laws may be different than canon.

This chapter ties together chapter 1 &amp; 3 and gives a little bit of insight on Tooru's quite altered emotional spectrum, his behavior will remain close to his own while interacting with people he does not know. With friends and in combat however expect a different Tooru.

* * *

**Note:** I have added a harem list to chapter 1 if you want to see it, apparently it turns out people tend to be curious as to what girls are in harem's or not. Weird.

The relationships will form in a fairly realistic progressive manner, in other words they won't be shagging the night away after initially exchanging pleasantries. They will however be swift to establish romantic relationships with Tooru which means that fluff will come long before lemons as is normally seen in relationships. The fan-service in cannon I frankly felt was a bit of overkill, there will be numerous sexy scenes in my story however without the utilization of such a blatant insult to the fairly well developed plot.

**P.S.** Story is rated T until later chapters where more graphic content might be explored (violence/gore/suggestive themes/lemons) and it might get bumped up to M, it's originally an ecchi story and it did have quite violent points at times throughout.

* * *

**Edited: 11/20/2015**


	3. My teacher can't be this cute

_Wow, to those that were paying attention the anime just finished airing and I got to say the ending was pretty bad (crap)… I am now utilizing both the manga and the anime as base, so readers rejoice! I will not go that crappy route as the anime did near the end with all that hugs make the world go around and forgive the people who killed those near and dear to you or attempted to at least. I am sorry that is just stupid and I will not punish myself on writing something like that. As such the story will diverge drastically at points from cannon, both anime and manga. It hasn't too much yet just because there has not been any parts that it was largely necessary to do so. _

_What does this mean for you? More plot development, more fight scenes, more romance &amp; fluff, and a more intricate/interesting plot line._

_I might pick up the light novel in the future too if I find the time._

_Anyways am currently in the process of thinking up three other stories for Absolute Duo, I am updating and working on several stories at a time including for other fandoms. This while developing new stories all the time, keeping up with college work. So once again I apologize._

_In this chapter I do something I have never seen anyone do before, give almost every character some meaningful screen-time. I know what you are thinking "How is that possible Cuddly Cat-Sama!? This is a harem, part of the plot includes blowing off half the cast like in canon! I answer to that dialogue, and Mikuni-sensei is in the story, the most underused character in the entire anime._

_Could someone P.M. his Blaze please, the chapters I have for the manga don't detail him a lot and the Absolute Duo Wiki page for him just says that he is one of the strongest Blaze users and Sakuya's bodyguard._

* * *

**Note: This chapter has been edited for quality assurance purposes. 11/20/2015 – Cuddly Cat**

* * *

**Chapter III  
**

* * *

**Walk With Me**

**~x~**

Currently both Imari and Tooru were walking down the hall to class, both doing so in amicable silence as they simply enjoyed each other's company while losing themselves in thought.

"Hey Tooru…" Imari said making Tooru turn to her as he noticed her looking at the ground as they walked, she gripping the sides of her skirt rather tightly as she walked alongside him.

"How did it feel when you were administered the Lukifer?" she asked softly, this making him stop in his tracks temporarily at that before he continued walking alongside her.

"I felt... **alive**" he said to her with deep-seated emotion, the way he said it making her look up at him wondering what he meant.

"The moment the flames enveloped me it felt like I was burning to death at first, however in reality I felt like I was being reborn. The moment I realized that, that the flames weren't trying to kill me, that they were a part of me and wanted to help me, the pain faded away." He said surprising her as he described an experience many times different from her own.

"…and then everything went black."

"You lost consciousness?" she asked surprised at that

"Partially, I just have no recollection of the events that followed. However when I came to, half the lab had been destroyed and a lock-down had been put in place. Apparently I had lost control and entered a berserker like state while immersed in the flames. I almost ended up killing three researchers and a medical assistant in the process." He said shocking her

"After I regained my senses I was taken into a different room and reanalyzed. According to the one in charge of the diagnosis it seemed that the way I personally processed and activated the Lukifer was unorthodox and for all intents and purposes should be impossible. They theorize that this might be the reason why I'm an irregular - though that has not been confirmed" he explained to her, she looking at him in awe after all that

"Wow, so do you think that's the reason for it?" she asked curiously

"Me? No, I think I would have still had a **Shield **Blaze anyways" he said dismissively

"Huh, how come?" she asked him

He took a big breath in at that and looked thoughtfully at Imari for a few seconds before he continued walking with Imari by his side.

"Well you see it's because of my past, one of the things I want to do most of all is protect what I believe is important to me. Now originally when I thought of protecting something and using an item I thought of a weapon, like a sword, but now that I have my own Blaze I think a shield is much more fitting. A weapon is used to harm, a shield however, a shield's sole purpose is to protect. A sword, all a sword can do is attack, even in the name of defending something, in the end what you are doing is attacking another in the name of protecting something else."

"A shield defines the one that wields it as a guardian, as that is all they can do, a sword defines one as a warrior. If I were to choose between being a shield or a sword to protect what I care about and hold precious, I would choose a shield every time. As that way I could keep what I hold dear close and guard it with my life." He said passionately just as he turned to Imari…

…only to find her looking at him with large sad watery eyes, she looking to be on the verge of tears as she gazed up at him. He involuntarily took a step back at the near hero worship in her eyes as she looked at him.

"W-why are you crying?" he asked in disbelief

"That was so cool and sad at the same time, I just don't how to emotionally process it" she said as she placed her hands on her currently flushed cheeks, a blush having formed across her face as he spoke.

Tooru could not help but sweatdrop at that, what he said wasn't that cool, he was just being honest with his thoughts and feelings on the matter. Plus she was the one that asked in the first place.

After a few seconds Imari managed to regain control of herself and looked at him once more, her eyes this time looking at him intensely while at the same time looking slightly worried as she did so. Immediately Tooru knew she was probably going to ask something big and mentally prepared himself.

"Tooru?" she asked him seriously

"Y-yeah?" he asked a bit nervously not knowing what to expect at this point, he hated to say it, but Imari was one of the most eccentric people he knew – half the time he could not even get a read on her. He truthfully had no clue what was going on through her little head.

"Do you think you can find it in your heart to think of me as precious to you one day?" she asked him hopefully with big puppy-dog eyes

"Of course Imari, you already are, I did say you're my friend after all. Why wouldn't you be?" he said sincerely to her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, he making to walk away right after…

…only to be tackled down onto the ground by a crying Imari.

"What the hell!?" he said in surprise as the girl engulfed him in a big hug

"I-I have never had someone think of me so highly" she said in between sobs making him sweatdrop at her extreme reaction.

"Do you really mean it, would you really guard me with your life like that even though you just met me today?" she asked him hopefully as she held on to his shirt while looking up at him, still on top of him at this point.

"Yes I would! Now please get off of me, you are making a scene! People are looking at us, they are going to get the wrong idea!" he begged the girl, who blushed slightly at that as she looked around and noticed several people currently looking at the both of them with blushes on their faces as they whispered to one another. Their position not helping as she was currently on top of the boy and had seemingly stopped in the middle of the hall and pinned him to the ground.

"O-oh I apologize" she said shyly to him

"…"

"Um, then could you get off of me please, we are going to be late for class" he said after a few seconds of her not moving from on top of him, the statement making her blush for a bit before she slowly got up off him.

He then made to get up but as he made to push himself up a jolt of pain coursed through his arms, making him fall back onto the ground.

"Tooru are you okay?" Imari asked worriedly as she looked at him

"Hmm, apparently my arms are worse off than I thought, mind helping me up?" he asked her, she smiling at him.

"Of course" she said before offering him an arm which he grabbed onto as he pulled himself up

"Thanks" he said as he dusted off his uniform

"Long time no see Tooru" a male voice said from down the hall, making Tooru look down the hall only to spot a teen of below average height with sandy blond hair and lime green eyes. The teen wore glasses and was currently looking at Tooru with a sharp look whilst having his arms crossed and adjusting his glasses. This was Tooru's childhood friend Aoi Torasaki, or as Tooru called him…

"Oh, hey Tora" he said dismissively as he lifted a hand in greeting before he went back to regarding Imari

"So yeah thanks for the help, my arms are still recovering after the opening ceremony, I really overdid it a bit." He said to her making her smile

"It's no problem, I'm glad to help, plus I was the one that knocked you over in the first place" she said to him with an apologetic look

'Ignored' Tora thought depressingly as he hung his head in defeat, all that time thinking of how to make the perfect entrance ruined. Tooru hadn't seen him in over two years and all he got was a simple hey!? He wouldn't stand for it!

He looked up only to notice Tooru walking away with the brown haired girl as they talked happily to one another. Not to be ignored further he decided to act and take matters into his own hands…

"Notice me Senpai!" he shouted as he attempted to spear tackle Tooru who swiftly moved out of the way, Tora barreling by him in the process.

"The hell is wrong with you Tora!? Do you want to kill me!? I still have injuries from the opening ceremony, I don't need new ones!" he said seriously as Tora quickly span around on the floor and looked at Tooru with large sad eyes.

"B-but you're ignoring me, you ruined my moment. Do you know how long I spent practicing on that pose?" Toru said looking to be on the very verge of tears at this point

Tooru sighed at that, guess he was right, he shouldn't have blown him off as he did. Old habits die hard and if the option for company was a cute girl or Tora, he would chose a cute girl very time.

However he at least owed it to him to listen to whatever he had to say.

"Imari, I'm so sorry but could you go on ahead to the classroom without me, apparently some people can't properly restrain themselves." he said tiredly as he pinched the bridge of his nose, before casting as half-hearted glare at Tora at the end.

"Its fine, I understand, plus we have time after school to catch up anyways. You can buy me cake to make up for it." She said with a smirk as she walked off towards their homeroom.

'That so counts as a date' he thought with his own smirk at that, he noticing what she did there

He sighed once more before turning to Tora "So, what do you want?" he asked drily

"Two years!" Tora exclaimed accusingly as he held two fingers in front of him "Two years you have not contacted me. You didn't call, you didn't text, you didn't even send me a goddam letter!" he said he pointed at Tooru accusingly

"So? I'm not your girlfriend and you're not my mom, way I see it I don't have to give you status updates on what I'm doing" Tooru said dismissively as they started walking

"That's not the point!" Tora said with a blush "You just dropped off the grid after you moved, I thought you were dead!" Tora said seriously

"Right, so me saying that I was moving and that I didn't have a phone at the time was just my imagination" he said as he smirked at Tora who sputtered at that

"B-but"

"Plus you're not a cute girl Tora, why would I put you in my contacts list?" he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world

"So what did you do with the phone number I gave you?" Tora asked wide-eyed at this point at his friend's audacity

"Burned it" he answered making Tora falter mid-step before looking at Tooru disbelievingly

"I'm kidding, I lost it or probably threw it away while cleaning my room at some point. You can't honestly believe that I would hold onto a sticky note that held a guy's phone number and keep it under my pillow would you?" he said disbelievingly

'That's what I would have done' Tora thought embarrassedly

"Yeah by the time I got a phone that note was long gone" he said honestly, this making Tora go quiet at that

"Well anyways I didn't expect to find you here of all places." He said quietly before he looked at Tooru with a stern look

"I saw what you did at the fight in the opening ceremony, that kind of thing won't earn you a lot of friends you know?" he said seriously

"Really? I made four friends from that, three of which butts I kicked, and one of them, a girl, even gave me a kiss on the cheek." He said making Tora's jaw drop at that

"If that weren't enough, the cute girl that was here earlier is apparently interested in me and already asked me out on a mini-date after school." He said with a smirk at Tora's disbelieving look

"T-that's beyond the point, the point is that the stunt you pulled earned you many enemies, there is such a thing as showing your hand too soon. Hiding your true abilities and all that, that could have been an option you know. Have these years really worn down your strategic thinking that much? Damn shame too, you used to be so good at shogi." Tora said sadly as he shook his head whilst looking at Tooru with pity.

"Hey! I will have you know I can kick your butt in shogi even on my worst day, or any other strategy game for that matter!" Tooru said defensively, the comment from Tora having actually gotten a rise out of him at that. Tora not looking like he bought it at all.

"Think about it this way, this school prizes power above most other institutions, it's not all simply strategy and careful thinking anymore Tora. We're now immersed in a world where power is everything, in a society consisting of veritable super powered individuals where even the weakest of them are capable of super human feats." He said analytically

"You understand the position we're in right Tora?" he asked making the boy nod at him

"We're guinea pigs" Tora said

"Exactly, we're in an isolated experimental research facility dedicated to the development and weaponization of human bio-weapons. At least that's what they want you to think." he said with a smirk confusing Tora at that

"What do you mean?" Tora asked confusedly

"If it was a matter of DNA that is compatible, why would they chose people of our age group? We are theoretically at one of the most unstable points in our life, we are veritable loose cannons. There are so many other more intelligent routes to take rather than simply choosing a bunch of teenagers at random to be soldiers."

"Genetic engineering would allow them to integrate the required DNA into a child that is still in development, technology has advanced to such a point that they could literally engineer hundreds of people compatible with their Lukifers. Moreover even if this was not possible the option remains of giving these Lukifers to adults, people with actual combat experience."

At this point Tora was looking at Tooru in awe, to think he had thought this in-depth into the matter, he had no idea…

"However they specifically targeted people that had two conditions, they were inside a certain age-group and they possess traumatic often tragic pasts, whilst having a certain mentality in play. This is where Blaze come in, Blaze are said to be the manifestation of people's souls, this would theoretically explain the need for tragic pasts, as it would make it easier for the person to be accepting of the aspect of combat for the promise of power. However this does not explain the age group requirement only the necessity of a tragic past."

"You know what I think, I think Blaze are not really the manifestation of people's souls, but rather are created from a person's state of mind, memories, and experiences. Not only that, but the person they are looking for needs to have a certain DNA sequence and background."

"What I believe is that they are looking for something," he said as he turned a corner with Tora trailing after him

"What would they be looking for?" Tora asked with bated breath

"They are looking for people with different souls – those who possess a certain DNA sequence, Blaze, past and mentality." He said with a grin as they approached the classroom, Tora's eyes widening in realization as he looked at Tooru.

"I see you understand, they were looking for people that fall under all those previous requirements, people that literally have the odds of one in a million – they were looking for Irregulars." he said with a dark grin

"H-how?" Tora asked astonished at to how he had come to such a conclusion and determined such a possibility with the limited information they were knowledgeable of, it was insane.

"I told you I was great at strategy, I knew this from the moment they gave me the application papers and they gave their simplistic explanation of their goals and the purpose of the school I was signing up for. This is only speculation on my part however, a hypothesis that is still in need of confirmation and needs more data to verify its validity, however this is the most logical conclusion I have arrived to at this time with my limited information." He explained to the now openly gaping Tora

Tooru had figured out all this before he had even signed the papers, he had only figured out a small portion of that and only when they had the opening ceremony. Plus Tooru's theory was way more solid than his own, his own just basically stated that Sakuya was the mastermind behind all this, but in light of recent information this seemed way too complex for just her to have thought of. There had to be more to it than he thought, did this go beyond corporate funding, could this go all the way up to the Japanese government? He shivered at the thought, on second thought maybe they were over-thinking this too much.

"Anyways if I do know anything, I know three things" Tooru said as he held out three fingers to Tora, Tora listening carefully to whatever intelligent analysis Tooru was going to provide next.

"Number one Director Sakuya is cute, so she must _not_ be the perpetrator and/or mastermind behind any of this!" he said passionately causing Tora to facefault at that

"What kind of logic is that!?" he shouted at Tooru with a glare

"Shush, no need to shout, you're causing a scene" Tooru said as he gestured at the multiple people in the hall currently whispering about the two of them, most actually looking at Tooru as they did so rather than Tora.

"Anyways, number two, there are a lot of cute girls here" he said with a perverse smirk as he listed off another of his definite truths.

"If I didn't know I would lose in a heartbeat against you, I would kick your ass" Tora said with a glare, not at all amused at his friend's antics.

"And number three" said Tooru with a smirk "Power in this school is everything, so why do you think I showed my hand early. I merely took the initiative, if they have a ranking system I have already established myself as the king of our class. That means less opposition, this way people will know that any and all cute girls are mine and that I will ruthlessly crush anyone that tries to take one from me!" he shouted before he started laughing manically in the end, his last statement being heard by everyone in the classroom as Tora having gotten bored of his antics walked into the classroom.

* * *

**~x~**

"Ah, Tora how could you!? We were in the middle of a debriefing!" Tooru said accusingly as he walked in after Tora only to find almost all the guys looking at him fearfully and quite a few girls gazing at him nervously.

Tooru realizing that he had been caught once more in an awkward situation and that likely everyone had heard his earlier comment quickly tried to make himself scarce and sat in the chair in the far upper right corner, right next to Tora.

"Jerk" he muttered quietly getting a small smirk from the teen in return, he briefly noticing that Imari was also in the class and sitting next to another girl.

Making eye contact with her she sent him a wink and waved at him for a moment before going back to making polite small-talk with the girl next to her.

"Tora?" Tooru said after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence

"What?"

"Do you ever get the feeling that we're being watched?" Tooru asked as he looked around nervously

"No, what makes you say that?" Tora said sarcastically, as almost everyone in the room were currently looking at Tooru and whispering amongst themselves.

"Nothing, just a feeling" Tooru said as he rested his head against the desk

"I was being-! You know what, forget it." Tora said exasperatedly before looking away and crossing his arms. The action making Tooru smirk, Tora was just too much fun to pick on, he was the closest thing he had to a little brother after all.

It was around this time that a girl walked into the room, Tooru quickly identifying her as the silver haired girl from earlier. Immediately Tooru noticing that the only open chair was right across from Tora quickly decided to alter fate a bit.

He doing this by lashing out with his foot and punting Tora out of the seat sending him nearly crashing into the one across from him, he quickly taking the opportunity and moving over one chair so he took Tora's. Tooru having done this while most of the class was busy gawking at the regal bearing and cuteness of the girl, it ultimately going unnoticed by the majority of the class.

Little brother figure he may be, but he would be damned if he would let him get in the way of cuteness!

"The hell is wrong with you, are you trying to kill me!?" Tora shouted angrily

"Sorry my foot slipped" he said innocently before turning away from Tora and opting to look at the silver haired cutie as well.

"Slipped my ass, if he would have kicked me any harder I would have crashed into the wall, or you now that I think about it." Tora said as he regarded the tall muscular teen next to him

"What's your name?" Tora asked the guy only to get a flex in response making him sweatdrop.

"I'm happy that she managed to pass the entry portion" Tooru voiced out loud getting Tora's attention since the guy next to him just flexed at anything he said.

"You know her?" Tora asked curiously

"Well I don't exactly _know_ her, but…" Tooru said as he looked at her thoughtfully just as she herself stopped walking and looked straight at him.

"Tooru" the silver haired girl said before she started walking towards him, the action making him incredibly nervous.

Sure he liked cute girls and stuff but how did she know his name? Did he really know her? Had they met before? Who was she?

She then walked up to him and bowed at the waist, he attempting to do the same from his seated position, before she took a seat on the chair next to him.

And started staring at him…

'She is totally looking at me' he thought, each time he tried to make eye-contact however she would simply look away with a small blush, and when he looked away she would simply go back to staring at him. It was maddening.

"Do I know her?" Tooru asked Tora bluntly while the girl simply stared at him.

"You're asking _me_!?" Tora shouted in disbelief, not wanting to get involved in… whatever his friend was involved in.

Tooru simply looked back at the girl, which in turn made her look away before looking back at him from the corner of her eye a few seconds later.

"She's obviously looking at you"

"She's obviously looking at me" Tooru said

"Why don't you talk to her?"

"I should probably talk to her… wait a minute" he said as he suddenly caught himself and turned to his right only to see Tora leaning out of his seat whispering ideas into his ear. Tooru quickly leveling a glare at the boy at that.

"Ah, hehehehe, I'll go sit down now." he said sheepishly with an awkward laugh at being caught, he quickly slinking back into seat.

"You go do that" Tooru said with narrowed eyes at him

Turning back to the girl he attempted to initiate a conversation "Hey, uh…" the moment he turned around she turning away from him just as quickly.

'Is this how Tora felt like earlier when I blew him off?' Tooru thought sadly, it was one thing for someone to ignore him, but a cute girl? It almost broke his heart.

He kept trying though only for her to turn away the moment he turned towards her, no matter how fast he did so.

Eventually he decided to give up as the girl was just too great an adversary and simply rested his head against the desk while crying anime tears. The girl looking at him curiously all the while.

* * *

**My teacher can't be this cute**

**~x~**

After a couple of minutes Tooru managed to recover emotionally from his little "episode" just in time for a blur to come shooting in through the open window – it using the frame as a springboard to launch itself forward so they landed on top of the desk.

"Hello, Hello! I'm your homeroom teacher Tsukumi Rito, but you can call me usa-sensei okay!?" a teacher said happily as she stood on top of her desk and struck a pose. (Usa-sensei can be referred to as rabbit-sensei, bunny-sensei, or bun-bun sensei, in this story all are acceptable meanings.)

Immediately all the students were looking at her in clear disbelief for quite a few reasons. First of all she came in through the window… on the second floor. Secondly was the way she wanted to be addressed. Thirdly and most importantly was her attire…

She was wearing a maid dress with bunny ears on top of her head. She having long, straight violet hair that reached her hips and blue-violet eyes. She also looked to not be much older than them, she probably being anywhere from 18-21 if one had to guess and she appeared to have an upbeat eccentric personality to say the least.

Now most students were looking at her disbelievingly at this point, not knowing how to react to such a thing. Tooru however…

'What is this trickery I see before my eyes, there is no way my teacher is this cute. Such a perfect balance of maturity and cuteness cannot exist, it must be against some law of nature. It's too perfect, there has to be something wrong with this picture.' He thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes at his super cute and eccentric sensei.

'Is she insane or something, no how dare I imagine such a thing, someone with such grand fashion sense must be in possession of a keen mind.' he thought seriously as he looked at his home-room teacher in wonder, she was an authority figure he could respect, just like Sakuya-chan.

"Oh gosh you're all making me embarrassed, staring at me like that. I know I'm cute, but it's rude to stare like that you know." she said half-heartedly as she looked away with a small blush.

Immediately Tooru's heart felt like it stopped in his chest, such open cuteness of that level was just too much for his mind to process, he was still recovering from the cute silver-haired girl next to him. He just couldn't take it.

_**Thump**_

"Ara, ara, that's new, no one has ever fainted when they saw me before. I must have underestimated how gosh darned cute I am! ❤" she said proudly as she held out a victory sign.

'Probably scared him to death or gave him a heart attack more like it' thought most of the class

Meanwhile Tooru currently had his head resting against the desk while vomiting rainbows at all the cuteness he had bared witness to on this day. It just never ended.

All of a sudden he felt a soft slender finger press against his cheek as the silver haired girl that was currently sitting next to him poked him curiously, her curiosity having gotten the best of her.

Tooru managed to open his eyes slightly just in time to see her tilt her head cutely at his dilemma.

'Such moe' he thought just as his brain overloaded at the sight once more.

"Tsukume-sensei, please don't mess around so much" a rough baritone voice said immediately snapping Tooru out of his reverie as he looked up to see a man with short black hair and sharp eyes that was currently wearing glasses. He was wearing a formal suit and while some females could regard him as attractive, he was the farthest thing from cute in Tooru's mind. That guy better stay away from sensei if he knew what was good for him.

"Oh, Mikuni-sensei what's up? What brings you here on this fine day?" said a slightly nervous Rito, she knowing that this guy was in fact supervising the curriculum.

"My job, I'm the supervisor for the new teachers, I was scheduled to your class today. Besides, the students would be uneasy with you being the only one here." He said simply as he pulled out a clipboard and several documents. Several students sighing in relief that they would not be alone in a room with the woman.

"What!? Which part of me!?" an offended Rito asked angry at the audacity of the man to think that her little bunnies would be uncomfortable around her.

"Every part" he said drily as he made his way to the back of the room and pulled out a chair in the corner before sitting down with his legs crossed. He then placed the clipboard on top of his files and pulled out a pen before gesturing uncaringly to the fuming Rito to continue.

'Whew, thank goodness, the guy's a douchebag. Guy's like him don't believe in love or cuteness… the monster' Tooru thought as he glared at the man

Rito pouted for a few seconds longer before regaining her upbeat attitude once more "Okay then homeroom starts now!"

"Okay first of all…" she said seriously as she grinned darkly at all of them making them nervous.

"Self-introductions!" she said happily as she clapped her hands together, making many of them sweatdrop at her sudden personality shifts.

"Okay you first!" she said while pointing at the student on the upper right near the door, making it so that if it went in order Tooru and the silver haired girl would be the last ones to have to introduce themselves. Tooru seeing that the first person was a guy quickly tuned them all out as he had more pressing thoughts to attend to.

'As I thought…for a while now…this girl's been intently staring at me!' he thought confused as he noticed the girl still looking at him curiously with her head tilted as she looked at him in wonder, her mouth slightly hanging open in awe.

'Seriously after all that just happened, she's _still_ looking at me! She has been staring at me for a while now too, maybe she's mistaking me for someone else or something. I know I would remember talking to a girl as cute as her, plus I don't know any foreigners…' He thought to himself as he grew increasingly more self-conscious under her gaze, this to the point he had started fidgeting uncomfortably as she stared at him.

In order to calm himself a bit he looked up and observed a few of the introductions. Though what most got his interest where two of the girls which if he recalled correctly the first one had been glaring at him during the opening ceremony and the second one he had saved during the battle.

"Tomoe Tachibana" said the first girl as she bowed politely

Tomoe has navy blue/black hair with a yellow headband with a cute bow attached to the side of her hair. She has orange eyes and a fair skin complexion and had a sense of formal bearing with the appearance of a traditional female Nadeshiko. All in all she was quite cute in his opinion and had a confident and dignified air about her.

Right after her came another girl, however unlike her predecessor the girl was incredibly shy and looked like she wanted to be anywhere but at the center of attention. So it was while nervously fidgeting that she managed to introduce herself.

"U-um my… my name is Miyabi Hotoka" she said softly as she bowed at the waist, before quickly sitting down. The girl from before looking at her with a small smile and patting her on the shoulder in a comforting fashion getting the girl to relax a bit and smile back slightly at that.

That was when he noticed it however, that girl was staring at him too! She was casually glancing at him over her shoulder every once and a while. She momentarily made eye contact with him causing her to blush at that and making her turn away quickly.

'Oh my god there are two of them' Tooru thought in disbelief

'Well at least they're cute' he thought before he was once again brought out of his thoughts as he heard Imari's name be called out and watched her introduce herself with a smile on his face. She sending him a small smile afterwards as she sat back down on her chair.

After her came a girl with shoulder-length purplish/black hair and amethyst colored eyes, she had a cute face with a presently emotionless expression on her features.

"Miwa" she said with a polite bow before sitting down again making quite a few people sweatdrop at that.

'I like her' Tooru thought with a grin

Tooru continued to blow off most of the other people until they got to Tora's table since he was right after him. First stood up a tall muscular teen with black hair and squinted eyes.

Tooru simply looked at the teen with a raised eyebrow, the guy looked to be around as strong as Tsuko physically, and taller too. He was without a doubt the physically strongest looking out of all of the students in the room. However Tooru immediately knew that if they came down to blows that he would crush him, for the simple fact that in a fight he simply would not stop until his foe or himself was one of two things, unconscious or _**dead.**_

A dark grin spread across his face at that, he using his hand to cover it from the silver haired girl that was next to him still staring at him unashamedly. He was so far the only one in his class that had fully embraced the fact that he was no longer human and had evolved into what he now was. Even before being injected with the Lukifer's he was already quite skilled in sword play and hand-to-hand combat, brute strength was nothing to him and now he himself had strength in spades. If the teen tried to confront him he would crush him on the spot.

However all these thoughts and his sinister grin disappeared in an instant at what the teen did next. The moment immediately destroying any hope that he had of the guy being a threat and/or a good fight.

The teen simply stood up… and flexed. This being done instead of an introduction making Tooru and several other people sweatdrop at that.

'Scratch that, the guy's a meat-head that's in love with himself' he thought as the guy struck a few more poses before sitting down.

"Oh, so your name is Ryuutarou Tatsuno. Okay, next you with the glasses introduce yourself!" Rito said as she pointed at Tora

'How the heck did she understand _that_!? Wait think about this logically she probably saw his name on her student roster. Yeah that's it.' Tooru thought as he rationalized the situation, he would not believe that there was an actual way to communicate with flexing ones muscles, he just couldn't.

Right after Tora finished, Tooru took the initiative and decided to introduce himself.

"I'm Tooru Kokonoe, please take care of me sensei" he said with a shark-like grin as he grinned at her psychotically, his killing intent palpable, this momentarily making Rito's demeanor change for a split second before she caught herself.

'I knew it' he thought to himself as he threw her off her game for a fraction of a second with the way he introduced himself in a near-threatening fashion.

The way her eyes suddenly sharpened, how her smile seemingly slipped from her face for a second, the way her back had straightened. She had temporarily regarded him as a threat before catching herself, and her body had reacted accordingly.

No doubt about it, the woman was a fighter, a damn good one at that if she was teaching a bunch of people that were basically super-human. He shivered at the thought of how powerful she would have to be to manage a group of people that could punch a hole through a brick wall with just their fist at only level one.

The woman was most likely a monster, and the way her eyes had changed… those were a killer's eyes, eyes that saw you as a simple statistic. For that one second he was simply 1/32, a student that she was responsible for. Is that the way she truly viewed the world? Was she like him in that she could be two totally different people when she wanted to be? He would say at this point that yes, yes she was.

Fascinating...

Just as quickly as her bubbly personality left it came back full force as if nothing happened, no one being none the wiser of the change. No one but Tooru that is.

Most of the other students were looking at him fearfully at his introduction making him sweatdrop inwardly at that. He was only trying to figure out their cute sensei a little more.

"Oh, I know _your_ name Kokonoe, after all I was there for your little show this morning. I have to say I'm a big fan. You're the talk of the staff-room you know, that there is an "Irregular" amongst the first year students." She said making many people start whispering at that, as they looked at him curiously.

"What's an irregular?" one of the students asked to the person sitting next to him

"Maybe it's someone powerful?" a girl suggested

"Of course he's powerful! Did you see what he did to the others!? The guy's a monster!" a dark haired teen with a tan said

Hearing that last comment Rito could not withhold the dark smirk that found itself on her lips

"A monster, where have I heard that before?" she whispered softly to herself

"Anyways I will be keeping a close eye on you Mr. Irregular! I have a feeling we have more in common than you realize," She said to him in a bubbly tone that did not fit the dark smile she was gracing him with.

'Likewise' he thought to himself as he himself had his own small smile playing across his features as he settled himself back into his chair.

"Next up is the conspicuous silver girl next to you! Stand up!" she said happily

"Ja" the silver haired girl said quietly as she stood up

"I'm Julie Sigtuna. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Julie said politely as she introduced herself

'So her names Julie huh? For a foreigner her Japanese is really good' he thought as he watched her sit down before glancing at him and turning away quickly making him sigh at that.

Maybe she's just shy, or not too confident with her Japanese, he would have to get her to open up a bit if they were going to be sitting next to one another in class. Vaguely he wondered how good her writing skills were, kanji were hard to learn after all, even for native born speakers at times. He looked at her softly, maybe Julie and Imari would be up for forming a study group, they did already know where the study hall was after all.

He suddenly sweatdropped at the thought as he vaguely remembered the state it was left in after the fight this morning. Well scratch that, maybe they can go there when it's fixed. He still did not know why they didn't just hold the fight in the arena, what was the point of even having one if they weren't going to use it.

"Okay next up, your student ID can also be used as a credit card. You have 100,000 yen (Roughly about $840 in U.S currency) every month to use however you like!" she said dramatically, the news receiving cheers from most of the students.

"Feel free to give some of that to me, your favorite professor of course!" she said unashamedly while shooting off a peace sign, getting disbelieving looks from most of the students.

'Damn there goes a portion of my monthly earnings, and I was so excited too' he thought with anime tears trailing from his eyes as he did not even entertain the possibility of _not _giving her some money. Well maybe not money, but he might buy her lunch or something if she wanted, he needed to plan this out carefully so he didn't get the short end of the stick.

"We also have a special Duo system here in which two students pair up together. Basically we have a partner system. Before you enrolled you were informed of that you will belong to Dawn's security operation team once you graduate from here, which is Dorn Agency's peacekeeping corps." She explained to them as the students listened to her intently knowing that this was important information that was being relayed to them.

"The missions over there are traditionally conducted in a two-man cell" Rito explained

At this point Mikuni-sensei took over as he decided it would be prudent to explain things a bit more clearly "Basically you're all going to get used to this set-up starting from your time as students, this way you can create bonds and establish a trusting relationship with your partner, all while getting your teamwork up to an acceptable degree by the time you are initiated as a member of Dawn Security Corporation (DSC)."

"You shall be a part of a two-man cell in most cases as support is rare for this division and trust is key, by the time you leave this institution we expect you to be ready to drop headfirst into the middle of a hostile situation with your partner as cleaners. Remember for all purposes this is a military academy and we are training you to be heavy hitters, we gave you these abilities for a reason. You're going to be the people we send in when a situation goes FUBAR and are expected to fix it." Mikuni-sensei explained, this suddenly making a lot of the students increasingly nervous as they got a reality-check and were again reminded of exactly why they were here in the first place.

'T-that's interesting' Tooru thought of all the information that afforded him.

Suddenly a lot of this made a bit more sense, all this money they were putting into them – it was an investment. They were spending enough money on the long run on each of them to pay for several combat trained troops, but if the cost for five or even twenty normal soldiers was spent on them they would still be making a good investment. For if one of them was able to take out dozens of trained soldiers by themselves and they were put in pairs as well on top of that… They could literally take out an entire military compound after the proper training and augmentations.

'That's another thing to think about as well then, better start filling up a notebook with all the info I'm getting and theories. I am still not convinced though that's the only reason they're doing this, there has to be an ulterior motive or else they would simply be selecting people that are already combat oriented and preferably trained. There has to be a variable I'm missing, for now I'm going to stick to my idea that they were looking for irregulars for some reason, that theory still has enough backing to stick at this point.' He thought to himself as he drifted off in thought, Julie still looking at him as she observed his expression curiously.

Rito was currently glaring at Mikuni for having interrupted her and giving in her opinion a bit too much information, before she went back to addressing the class regaining her cheerful personality.

"Anyways, duos always work together, they are together during classes and the dorms. Which is why our dormitory has shared dorms!" she said excitedly as the students started looking around at people they could possibly choose for a duo partner.

"Think of it as a trust building exercise! So you can understand each other better by spending time together!" she added

"Duos will be discussed and decided officially by the weekend, until then I want you to look for someone to form a "duo" with!" she told them energetically as people started talking to one another to see if they would be interested in partnering up with them.

'Hmm, so far I can only think of two, possibly three people I could be in a duo with. Tora, Imari and possibly Julie, she seems interested enough in me to say yes' he thought with a sweatdrop as he saw her still looking at him from the corner of his eye.

"Now since you haven't likely decided who you want to spend the next few years of school and likely future career with. You'll all be placed in temporary duos until this weekend in which you will decide the person that you will basically entrust your life to in a fight!" she said in a bubbly tone of voice, the way she worded it making a lot of people nervous at that as she painted it as something serious.

'Oh well there goes Tora' Tooru thought with a sigh 'Well if it's just temporary…'

"Hey Tora," Tooru whispered catching the teen's attention, he already having half expected Tooru to address him.

'He's definitely going to ask me to be his duo. I guess it was inevitable, after all who wouldn't want someone as intelligent and resourceful as me as their duo partner?' he thought to himself with a smile at that as he struck an intellectual pose and adjusted his glasses.

"Yeah?" he asked with a small blush on his cheeks at how amazing he was and a little bit flattered that Tooru would choose him.

"Could you ask Imari over there if she would do me the honor of being my temporary duo?" he asked as he discretely pointed at Imari who was actually looking at him from afar and could guess what he was asking Tora to do as he pointed at her making her blush at that. She truthfully flattered at the action.

Meanwhile Tora was currently crying anime tears at that, once again ignored! Did no one appreciate his intellect, his skill? All he wanted was a little recognition, was that too much to ask!?

"...Tora! Tora! Damn it, Tora crashed again," Tooru said softly, he knowing how his friend got at times.

"These temporary duos however come preassigned, so until this weekend, please live with the person you're sitting next to right now ❤" Rito-sensei said cutely, this catching quite a few people off-guard.

"Next to me…?" Tora said in a defeated tone of voice, before suddenly feeling a hand be placed on his shoulder and turning to see the muscular teen from before regarding him. Who went on to give him a cheesy grin and a thumb's up, this making Tora look horrified at the sight. It didn't help that immediately after that he started flexing right next to him. The weirdest part? He could swear he could understand what the guy was trying say, this being something that disturbed him on some deep emotional level.

"_**Name's Tatsu, pleasure to meet you, hope we can get along."**_ it was horrifying, to think he could understand clearly what the guy was trying to convey as he flexed. Convinced he was going insane he quickly turned to Tooru.

'Help me' he mouthed to him, however Tooru himself was going to his own mini-panic as the reality of the situation sunk in for him.

He would be living alone, with a girl, and be s-sleeping in the same room as her. Sure he liked cute girls, but this was going too fast even for him, he hadn't even dated a girl yet! He couldn't handle such a huge leap in a relationship all of a sudden!

Tooru was blushing at the thought, after all while he might love cute girls it had always been from afar, like an idol was to most people. If that were not enough the girl next to him was cute enough to be an actual idol, he had never even held a girl's hand before! Heck he almost had a heart attack when Imari and later Kurumi kissed him on the cheek. His heart nearly pounded out of his chest as he was kissing Kurumi and the only reason he got as far as he did was pure instinct! And all of a sudden he was expected to just sleep in the same room as a girl just like that!? This was all Tora's fault somehow, he just knew it!

'Wait I need to calm down, it's not like we're going to be sleeping in the same bed or anything, we're just sleeping in the same room. It will even provide me the opportunity to get to know her better, I just need to be flexible.' He thought to himself as he calmed down slightly at that and cast a side glance towards Julie only to see her blushing slightly as her hands clenched her skirt tightly.

'She's nervous too, well of course she would be, she's going to have to live with a strange guy she barely knows anything about after all. We have to talk about this after we get out of class, the whole point of this is to build trust between one another after all.' He quickly made up his mind and pulled out his small pocket notebook and wrote down a small note. He flinching in pain as he did so as his arms were still quite injured.

Having finished writing the note, he inconspicuously slid it over to her, while looking at Rito-sensei as she explained the details of the duo system in a bit more detail.

Julie momentarily looked at the note in confusion and slight surprise before she picked it up.

_It's nice to meet you Julie, I hope we can get along. You don't need to be so nervous…_

_-Continued on back_

Looking at him she saw him staring at her from the corner of his eye with a small smile, seeing her questioning look he simply nodded to her prompting her to turn the note around and look at the back.

_Let's meet up after class, that way we can get to know each other a bit before we head to the dorms. What do you say?_

A small smile formed on her face at that before she wrote something down and passed it to him.

He quickly looked at the note and sweatdropped, her penmanship was horrible. However he could not deny the smile that formed on his face at her response.

_I would love to…_

* * *

**~x~**

Homeroom had just ended and students were presently filing out of the room whilst conversing with the people that they were going to bunk with. Tooru and Julie had avoided making themselves the center of attention by not asking any questions themselves for the rest of class. Some people noticed that they were the only mixed gender pair but decided to remain silent rather than risk a confrontation with Tooru which most of his classmates feared. They did however send Julie numerous sympathetic glances while the girl, Tomoe if he remembered her name right sent him a glare. As if warning him not to try anything funny with Julie.

After class ended it left only three other pairs of students who were presently talking quietly to one another, Mikuni-sensei who was finishing up his report, Rito-sensei who was writing something on a notebook on her desk, and finally the two of them.

An awkward silence descended upon them however as first of all he couldn't leave without her, him being her partner and all, and secondly if he did leave it would make meeting up a lot harder. So he could only sit there, nervous as the cute girl next to him wrote something in her notebook.

"Tooru" he heard a soft voice say beside him, he turning to look at Julie only to see her this time making eye-contact with him "Please look after me" she said politely with a small bow, momentarily surprising him at that as she did not shy away from him like before.

Gradually a smile formed itself on his face at that "Same here" he said happily as he stood up, she mimicking his action as they made to walk out of the room.

"Kokonoe-kun" Rito called out making him stop mid-step as he turned to her "You stay, I need to discuss something with you!" she said with a deceptively sweet smile, immediately giving him a sense of foreboding at that.

By this point Mikuni-sensei had already left and the last of the groups was filing out, they were the last pair there.

"Julie?" Tooru said softly

"Ja?"

"Can you wait for me outside real quick, I will be out there in a second okay?" he asked her with a small smile

She looked at him curiously for a few seconds at that before she nodded slowly to him "Okay" she said as she continued out the door without him. He quickly turning around to regard Rito-sensei, whose smile had widened even more and had become slightly more sinister in appearance.

"Close the door" she purred to him making him scowl at that before he walked over to the door and softly closed it shut. The sound being like a nail being placed in a coffin as the door locked shut.

"Turn around" she ordered her tone possessing a darker seductive undertone to it rather than the cute and bubbly tone that she used in class. Turning around he quickly regarded her and crossed his bandaged arms in front of him. Rito looking at him with a dark smile all the while.

"We have some very important things to discuss with one another Mr. Irregular," she said as she pressed a button next to the smart board. This making the windows slowly close one by one as a security measure was enacted that prevented anyone from looking into or out of the room.

The last window showing a view of a psychotically smiling Rito and a stone cold expressionless Tooru regarding one another.

Very important things indeed...

* * *

**Omake: **

"Do you think you can find it in your heart to think of me as precious to you one day?" Imari askedhopefully with big puppy-dog eyes

'My god! The girl's a veritable mine-field with her questions, one wrong answer and its game over! At least it would be if this was a dating-sim, like Tsuko thinks it is apparently. Too bad that I know exactly the perfect thing to say in this situation, Tsuko eat your heart out, guess what my hobby was in middle school!' he thought with an inward smirk before he turned to Imari and answered her sincerely.

He had been subconsciously convinced by Tsuko of pursuing a Harem ending, he would not screw up any of the routes he needed to take with the girls. He had played too many of these type of games in the past to lose now. He would not be defeated, he would avoid the yandere end, he will get all the girls, and he **will** emerge victorious!

**Imari – Captured/First Girl/Harem Route Initiated **

**?/Cute Silver Haired Girl – Next Girl **

**Sakuya-Hime – Must have/Final Boss**

**Cute Girls – Must have**

_Omake featuring a look into a deep, deep part of Tooru's mind where everything that happens is being categorized and analyzed as if it were a dating-sim. It also shows a Tooru that used to play numerous dating-sims in middle school explaining how he always knows just the right thing to say in almost any situation to make a girl fall for him like cannon. (Even though he screws up big time too due to him being an idiot at times and saying the wrong thing. A mistake that will not happen in this story as he is going to have that IQ boost that is necessary to not make him such a blatant dumbass and/or inconsiderate jerk.)_

* * *

**Author's Note**

**~x~**

_Imari is going to be extremely accepting of other girls to the point of encouraging them to pursue a relationship with Tooru and for Tooru to in turn pursue one with them. Why? Because she did this in cannon, on the island she encouraged Miyabi to pursue Tooru. Imari also admitted that she could have seen herself falling in love with Tooru if she had gone to the main academy with him. That means that in about the hour or so she spent with him she had already developed a crush on Tooru before she left. Tooru works that fast, that is insane._

_Tora is going to mostly take the role of a strategist/comic relief, he just fits the role __for both__ perfectly in my mind._

_This chapter also shows that Tooru has in fact given some measure of thought to the Blaze, Lukifer, and the institution as a whole. However that was just a hypothesis he developed with his limited information, at this point he had not heard of the duo system and is clueless as to the nature of "Absolute Duo". His thoughts on the matter will change slightly as the story progresses. I know that a tragic past is not a requirement to activate a Blaze that is just an assumption he made with his limited info, all of it is._

_Like you have already seen in this chapter Kunai girl is in as Imari's temporary duo as they were sitting next to one another. I just observed that they had really good symmetry during their fight in the third volume and thought they could work out as partners. Imari a close range fighter, with the kunai girl as mid to long range support. However guest reviewer Shiranai did in fact guess who I was going to pair up with Imari so I do give props to them as well._

_I found out that the bow/archer girl is named Kibitsu Momo, and kunai girl Miwa. I previously had her listed as an OC since I thought she didn't actually get a name in the story, but found out she did when I looked at the Light Novel. I intend to flesh out both characters a lot more than in cannon, same for Imari. Imari will develop differently due to her remaining in Koryo Academy. _

_Suggestions on kunai girl's last name are welcome, she will be Kurumi's sis (The OC female from last chapter) I have decided that Miwa's personality will be apathetic/shy. She will be fairly emotionless at times but will mellow out slightly while around friends, her composure can crack at times however._

_Fun Fact: Miwa/kunai girl got a stub on Absolute Duo Wiki while this chapter was in production, yay!_

_Anyways I will provide her an adequate personality later on, she is not an OC, just an at most OOC character. We don't know almost anything about her on her personality so cut me some slack, but I am going to try to make a personality that I believe will be fitting for her._

* * *

**Note**

**~x~**

_FUBAR: Fucked Up Beyond All Reason_

**Please post suggestions on Kunai girl/ Miwa's last name. As far as I know she does not have one and will need one in future chapters. Also if anyone knows Mikuni-sensei's Blaze please P.M. me what it is. **

**Thanks **❤

**-Cuddly Cat**

* * *

**Edited: 11/20/2015  
**


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